Tennis triumvirate survive in ‘toughest draw in history’ as Nadal, Djokovic and Federer advance in CA

Andy Murray bowed out, but the rest of the big four survived in the draw of death at Indian Wells.

World No. 1 Andy Murray may have bowed out yesterday at Indian Wells, but the other three of the “big four” served up easy wins, for the most part, with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer still standing among the ‘draw of death’ on Sunday at Indian Wells.

The three men standing own a combined 44 grand slam titles including Federer’s 18, Rafa’s 14, and Nole’s 12. Murray has never joined their leagues at the Masters 1000 tournament and the leaderboard for the competition only boasts titles for those three left in this devastating quarter of the draw. With Djokovic’s five titles here, Fed’s four and Nadal’s 3, the tennis triumvirate has a stranglehold on the title.

The only exception? Ivan Ljubičić, a Croatian player who won the title in 2010, reached a career high ranking of world No. 3, and is now retired. He’s also at the Indian Wells in a new capacity, as Roger Federer’s coach, having joined his team since last year. Ljubičić helped the Swiss perfect the devastating backhand that was so effective against Nadal in this year’s epic Australian Open final. Under his coaching, the world No. 10 achieved his first grand slam in five years.

First out of the gate: Rafa Nadal

Rafael Nadal started out the super Sunday with a smooth win over Argentine Guido Pella, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The first time playing Nadal, Pella broke him in the third game of the first set, but quickly lost the momentum as the Spaniard illustrated why he’s known as the “comeback king” by firing off six out of seven successive games to take charge in the first. Broken again in the next set, Rafa dug deep as he’s done so many times before and won the last five games of that set to clinch the winner.

“It was a solid match,” said Nadal afterwards, according to ATP. “It was a first-round match where I didn’t try to do amazing things. I tried to play solid. I tried to find the rhythm and I think I did. For moments I played well, for moments I played a little bit less well. The important thing is I won and I won in straight sets. I had some good feelings for a lot of moments.”

Having been under the weather when he arrived in California, Rafa was clearly feeling refreshed as he achieved the match win in an efficient one hour and 21 minutes. He loves playing the tournament, having won it 2007, 2009 and 2013. He also loves the conditions here.

“It’s no doubt that these are my two favorite weeks of the year,” he said in a pre-match interview, according to the ATP.

Up next for the fifth seed is No. 26 seed, compatriot Fernando Verdasco, who has taken the 14-time grand slam champion to epic matches, despite their head-to-head stats in Rafa’s favor. The Madrid native will not make it easy for the 30 year-old Australian Open finalist.

A close call for Novak Djokovic in his first round

The world No. 2 won the first set of his match against Kyle Edmund 6-4 but was far from his best as he watched the second set almost get away from him. After Edmund managed to get the better of Djokovic, the British player was serving to clinch the second set at 5-3, but couldn’t close. The difference between most players and the Big Four is that they fight back better than anyone else when the stakes are at their highest, and possess a great ability to close when they need to. The 29-year-old seized the opening dealt him and brought the second set to a tie break, which he won 7-6 (5).

Even with the victory, Djokovic talked about how close the match really was afterwards and said the win was a matter of just a few points going his way.

“Second set was obviously up and down,” Djokovic said in his post-match interview. “But credit to Kyle for playing some really aggressive tennis and taking it all out. He made a lot of winners in the beginning and midway through the second.”

Next match for the five-time Indian Wells champion will be a familiar opponent, Juan Martin del Potro, who will be anything but straightforward. The 28-year-old silver medalist famously ruined Djokovic’s Olympic chances at another medal by knocking him out in a shock defeat in the first round in Rio. Djokovic repaid the favor by beating him in Acapulco just a few weeks ago.

But del Potro is a fighter, fighter, fighter. Having come back from several wrist surgeries, he barely lost in the gold medal match against Murray in Rio in four grueling hours. He’s also one of just two to win a grand slam title (beating Roger Federer in the 2009 US Open) in the era of the Big Four. With his love of the game and ebullient spirit, expect the crowd to want him to win the matchup with Djokovic.

“I’m playing del Potro now. I have to give it all,” Djokovic said after his win over No. 46 Edmund. “I can’t really pace myself and think about what’s coming up after that, because I really have a tough player to beat in the next round.”

The Belgrade native won the title in Palm Springs, CA the last three years and in 2008 and 2011 prior to that.

Roger Federer didn’t break a sweat with easy win over Stephane Robert

By the time Roger Federer walked onto the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, spectators were still scrambling to find seats. Tournament officials kept announcing for them to find the “closest seat you can” since many of those in attendance were clearly “day session” patrons who had overstayed until the night session, with so many greats playing in their first matches of the tournament in back-to-back time slots.

Federer’s opponent on Sunday won the least amount of games, with the 18-time grand slam champion sailing through the match in effortless fashion and cool confidence, in a highly efficient 51 minutes. In a matchup between two 35+ year-olds (Robert is 36), the 35-year-old clinched the easy win for a third round spot against American Steve Johnson, who is incidentally also a two-time NCAA champion (No. 1 college player for USC and two-time champ 2011-2012).

In their only matchup, in last year’s fourth round at Wimbledon, the seven-time Wimbledon champ walked away the victor, but Indian Wells is the 27th ranked player’s favorite tournament and Federer knows he needs to prepare for a tougher match.

“Very happy. The knee is a thing of the past, which is great. I don’t even have to think or talk about it. So I thought the match went really well,” said Federer after his win over Robert. “I’m very pleased with how it went. And moving on to the next round, it’s going to be a different matchup, so I’ve got to adjust again.”

Like competitor Djokovic, Federer also won the tournament three years in a row, 2004-2006, and then again in 2012. If he gets past Johnson, he will be on a collision course with his great rival Nadal, in a hoped-for rematch from this year’s age-defying Australian Open final. This time, however, the two would meet in the fourth round, much earlier than the two legends are accustomed to. Although Federer and Nadal are playing remarkable tennis at this late stage in their careers, tennis fans know they can’t last forever and any chance to watch the two greats battle is an event that reverberates across sport.

Next: Andy Murray out at Indian Wells

But with the three of the Big Four left in the draw, let’s ponder the earth-shattering stats that these three legends possess. All three have achieved the Career Grand Slam, winning all four majors. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have all won at least one Australian Open, French, Wimbledon, and US Open title. Nadal alone owns a gold medal in singles among the three, but both he and Federer have won gold in doubles. The 35-year-old has a silver from London and Djokovic achieved a Bronze in Beijing. Federer leads in the grand slam count, but the Serb has the most Masters 1000 titles. In this quarter of the draw, the tennis stats are truly staggering.