I’ll write about the women’s semifinals tomorrow morning but here are a few quick hits to tide you over.

Fishing

Whoa, Mardy Fish took out David Nalbandian in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(4). Earlier in the week Fish said he changed his attitude towards tiebreakers – previously he was content just to get to a tiebreaker and now he’s trying to be more aggressive and focus on getting his first serve in. I guess it’s working.

I’m going to concentrate on the women today so I won’t say much, but I did watch Fish’s match from the Media Center here at Indian Wells while I was pecking away. Two things: 1. Fish beat Nalbandian by serving well and attacking the net. 2. This is Roger Federer’s lucky day: Tommy Haas dropped out of the tournament due to a sinus infection so Federer got a pass to the semifinals, and now he’ll face Fish instead of Nalbandian who beat him at both the Madrid and Paris Masters events last fall. Wanna bet Federer was watching this match with great interest?

Freud

Ana Ivanovic is surprisingly well read in the field of psychology. She’s currently reading a book by Freudian psychoanalyst Karen Horney and she ably explained how her understanding of psychology helped her tennis game. When someone asked Maria Sharapova about Freud, however, this was her response: “I don’t know who that is?”

A few years ago I was in the same media interview room when someone asked Roger Federer a question about Freud. He didn’t know who Freud was either. When someone explained that he was a psychologist, Federer said, “Nope, never needed him.”

Gambling

I tried to click through to an article about Andy Murray that I picked up through a google alert but the site was blocked by the server here on site. Its turns out that the article was on a betting website and all betting sites are blocked by the server.

You know, I’ve been wondering: if the U.S. decides to legalize offshore gambling and I get an account on a betting site so I can watch streaming video, will the ATP and WTA find out about it and refuse to give me media credentials? I ask because ATP player Federico Luzzi was suspended for six months and his agent, Norman Canter, mentioned that Luzzi might sue the gambling site he bet on because they divulged private information to the ATP.

I can see the ATP doing background checks on applicants for media credentials. Clearly they have a working relationship with the betting sites because they were able to get Luzzi’s records. Damn, and I was looking forward to getting access to that streaming video. I’ll have to get a beard – a term for someone who stands in for someone else – and get my beard to open an account in his or her name so I can use it. Don’t tell anyone.

Rafael Nadal outlasts James Blake and Federer gets a free pass to the semifinals.

James Blake came out firing in his quarterfinal match with Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells last night and the home crowd was delighted. Everyone screamed when he hit a rocket return in the second game that gave him three break points. Nadal followed that up with an error and Blake had his break to go up 2-0, but the rest of the set was very close: Blake hit the ball as hard as he could and Nadal returned it just as hard.

Until, that is, Blake made a mental mistake that cost him the set. He was serving at 5-5 when he stopped in mid-rally to challenge a call on break point. You can’t take a chance like that unless the ball looks like it’s taking off for the moon because you lose the game if you’re wrong. The ball hadn’t taken off anywhere, it had landed on the line and now Nadal served for the set. Blake got three break points in the next game but he hit five straight errors and Nadal was up, one set to none.

The obvious complement to Blake’s power baseline game is a strong net game, particularly because his speed gets him to the net so quickly. He’s not a great vollyer but it did get him through the second set. Blake came out firing again and hit a beautiful cut volley in the second game of the set to go up 2-0. Serving for the set at 5-3, Blake hit a lunging backhand volley off a searing Nadal passing shot for set point. On the next point, Nadal hit a drop shot that looked like it was miles away from Blake, but Blake covered the territory with room the spare and hit a winner down the line. See what I mean by quickness? The match was now even at one set each.

The third set was more of the same, but long about the middle of the set, Blake started missing and that’s one of the problems with his style of play. It’s very difficult to maintain over the course of an entire match because, sooner or later, if you aim for the lines, you start missing. It’s probably the main reason he has such an awful record in five set matches. I don’t think he should change his game, obviously it suits his personality and skills. He said as much after the match:

I’ve heard a million times so-called tennis insiders telling me to be more cautious. I’ve heard it on TV, I’ve heard it in papers, and it’s almost laughable to me, because they honestly would never be talking about me if I played that game, because I’d be retired by now.

This so-called tennis insider never told him to be more cautious, though I may have suggested developing a secondary strategy when his power game isn’t working – specifically, attacking the net. But what I want to know is this: when he started losing it in the third set, did he lose focus or was he getting tired?

I always assumed that Blake was in superb condition but last night, he looked like he tired out. Nadal broke him to go up 5-3 in the set and then the wheels came off. He had trouble keeping the ball in the court. Nadal was on his way to the semifinals with a 7-5, 3-5, 6-3 victory.

That has been the revelation of this tournament for me: Nadal’s deep reservoir of composure. He is the epitome of focus. He outlasted a barrage of shots, volleys, and on court celebrations from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, then won the last five games in the third set to win the match and he did it again today. Roger Federer is the other player who compares to Nadal in that regard but I don’t think his composure compares to Nadal’s when he’s behind in the score.

I hope Nadal’s injuries don’t shorten his career because I’m looking forward to watching him for many more years. As for Blake, clearly you lose focus when you get tired and his high power game would tire anyone out. A little more treadmill work should help but how do you improve focus? It helps to feel supremely confident but you can practice it. What do you think Nadal’s incessant ball-bouncing and butt-picking is about? It’s his way of focusing in and maintaining his rhythm regardless of what’s going on around him.

I don’t want Blake to slow down his game but he could learn something from Nadal by slowing down and gathering himself before each point. Besides, the rest would do him good.

Someone just announced in the Media Center that Tommy Haas has withdrawn from the tournament with a sinus infection. Big groan from everyone here. A sinus infection? Haas battles through three shoulder surgeries and he can’t play because he has a sinus infection? That means Federer gets a free pass to the semifinals and there he could face his latest nemesis, David Nalbandian. Nalbandian has beaten Federer in the last two Masters Series events. Will it be three in a row? Stay tuned.

Finally some concrete info on the Roddick-Connors split, and our suggestions for Sania Mirza’s wrist problem.

Dish on the Roddick-Connors Split

It turns out that one of the journalist hanging at the Media Center here at Indian Wells has some dish on the Andy Roddick–Jimmy Connors breakup. His name is Doug Robson and he’s the lead tennis writer for USA Today.

As you can see here on his aptly named blog, Doug’s Sports Dish, Andy wanted to swing by New York on his way to next week’s tournament in Miami and spend some time with his girlfriend, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker. Not sure about that name, for some reason it reminds me of baseball cards or the upper deck of Yankee Stadium.

Anyway, Andy wanted Jimmy to fly to New York and get in a few training sessions but Jimmy didn’t want to travel, he wanted to stay home in Santa Barbara. This led to a showdown and, finally, a long conversation in which they decided to end their working relationship. Thanks to Doug for that, a little bit of info goes a long way to understanding a situation.

Sania and the Quick Fix

Sania Mirza has to decide whether to change her extreme western grip or have surgery because she has recurring soreness in her wrist. This is what she said after playing with wrist pain in a loss to Daniela Hantuchova earlier this week:

It’s a big step to even change it half an inch because my game is my forehand. You know, it’s not easy to change a grip at the stage where you’re, like, 30 in the world. I would obviously like to look at other options before that.

It sounds like she’d prefer surgery to changing her grip. This is a common attitude and it’s one of the reasons you see so many people with elbow straps and knee straps on tennis courts – it’s easier to get a medical procedure than change a grip. Here are the typical options for an injury:

1. Take aspirin or some other anti-inflammatory. I play tennis with a woman who takes aspirin before she goes out to play.
2. Get a chiropractic adjustment, acupuncture, or some other kind of bodywork to relieve the symptom.
3. Surgery.

Here’s the problem: if you take an anti-inflammatory or get a chiropractic adjustment then go out on the court and swing the racket exactly the same way, the soreness and inflammation will return. How could it not, nothing has changed. Surgery will bring you relief if the injury was a one-time accident – say you stepped wrong and twisted your knee – but it’ll only relieve the problem temporarily if you have a chronic problem resulting from your swing or some other repetitive movement.

Mirza is choosing temporary relief and it could work if the relief lasts as long as her tennis career, but it’s possible she’ll need surgery again. Tommy Haas had his third shoulder surgery last November, for instance. Mirza is between a rock and hard place because her forehand is the shot that sets her apart. If she changes her grip her forehand may be less effective, but there might be an alternative.

I am not a medical expert of any kind but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night…uh, uh, I meant to say that recently I moved into a house with stairs after living in a one story house for a few years and my knee started bothering me. I went to an Alexander Technique instructor who showed me that I was turning my foot inward when I walked downstairs. Now I’ve successfully changed my movement habit and my knee doesn’t hurt.

I don’t know if Mirza could benefit from this kind of work because she’s been using that grip for 16 years and it would be hard for her to take a long break from the tour, but I see it all the time: athletes at all levels choose cortisone shots and surgery without addressing the basic problem. This is, in no small part, due to our medical system. Insurance pays for quick fixes but it doesn’t pay for long term work that will relieve the problem permanently.

Insurance will pay for physical therapy but physical therapists are not swing coaches and swing coaches are not necessarily the answer either.

After swinging the racket the same way for so long, Mirza might have deeper structural problems than just her grip. Maybe she compresses her body on one side or lifts her shoulder and constricts nerves in the area, I don’t know, but I dearly wish our health system embraced bodywork that teaches us to change our movement habits rather than offering up quick, and temporary, fixes. Most athletes would be much better off.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost his rematch with Rafael Nadal but I’m still a fan.

Frustrating day. I settled in here at Indian Wells to see if Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could summon up anything close to the perfect match he played against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. Twice I was ready to wrap up my piece with the news that Tsonga can beat Nadal without the playing a perfect match and twice I was foiled.

Three hours later, Nadal was the guy moving on to the quarterfinals and Tsonga was going home. After exchanging breaks to start off the match, Tsonga won the first set in a tiebreaker after failing to cash in two set points one game earlier. Same thing in the second set: the players exchanged breaks and went to a tiebreaker again.

Tiebreakers should favor Tsonga with that big serve of his and here was the first time I was ready to finish my story. Tsonga only managed to get one first serve in out of five tries, however, and we were going to a third set.

The second time came after Tsonga broke Nadal in the third set to go up 4-2. He was playing pretty well from the baseline – at one point he hit an inside out forehand followed by a drop shot to the opposite corner and then won the point with a lob, but he couldn’t get to the net anywhere near as much as he did at the Australian Open because this is a slower and stickier court. As Nadal put it:

The ball is getting a lot of topspin, so much more than Australia, so that helps me a little bit.

That may have helped him but that wasn’t the difference today. The difference was tennis years: Tsonga is almost two years older than Rafa in biological years but far younger in tennis years. This is how Rafa put it in his endearing way of speaking:

The true is, well, I have more years on the top position, like I have three years I win a lot of matches like today.

I’ve been trying to interview Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram all week to find out why they didn’t play Dubai after announcing that they would. I ran down to the cafeteria to find them because they’d just finished their match so I missed part of the third set. It was a waste of time on my part. Erlich and Ram won’t speak to me without an ATP person present and when asked in a post match media session, they refused to talk about Dubai.

I did see Tsonga fail to serve out the third set and that was all Rafa needed. His first serve percentage in the third set was 81% while Tsonga had exactly zero aces during the set. This is what Tsonga said about that third set and it shows some immaturity:

Yes, my serve was not very good in the third set, and I tried to hit the ball more and more and maybe it was the wrong way.

Ya think? Donald Young is only 18 years old but he took something off his serve in his third round match with Nadal rather than smashing the ball and continuing to miss first serves. Young didn’t win the match but that was the correct adjustment.

Young has also played in five Master Series events while this is only Tsonga’s second and that Australian Open final is his only final to date. I expect Tsonga will figure it out and I think he would have won this match had it been played at Wimbledon. He feels bad because he wanted to prove that his run in Australia wasn’t just a matter of luck, but he proved it to me.

I think he’s got some Pete Sampras in him. He can hit aces when he needs them, he’s got a killer inside out forehand and a great touch volley, he’s even got Pete’s jump overhead. Best of all, he’s shown that he can rise to the occasion in big events.

I’m still a fan.

I told you I’d report on the Maria Sharapova – Daniela Hantuchova match but the desert heat got to me so I napped through part of it, but I will tell you this: Sharapova looks like her unbeatable self. Hantuchova got to the first set tiebreaker but the second set was soon over by the score of 6-1. Hantuchova was a big hurdle for Sharapova because she’s the defending champion and she’s won this tournament twice, but it was no contest after the tiebreak. I don’t see anyone here who can beat Sharapova.

Except for a Quick Hit I’m taking tomorrow off and Pat Davis will be reporting in. See you Friday.

David Nalbandian hung around long enough to win one of the weirder matches of the year at Indian Wells.

What kind of personality could go down 5-2 in the first set then win it in a tiebreaker, lose the second set 6-0, go down a break in the third set, and yet still win the match? Let’s call it the Nalbandian Personality Type.

I was sitting in the Media Center minding my own business here at Indian Wells when I saw that David Nalbandian was down 4-1 in the first set to Radek Stepanek. I considered going over to Stadium 3 to see what was going on but why bother, Nalbandian often loses the first set and, besides, he soon came back and won it in a tiebreaker. Then he lost the second set 6-0 and I got my butt over there rather quickly.

Understandably, Nalbandian was a bit disturbed. Early in the set, Stepanek put a lob over his head that landed on the baseline and Nalbandian did not agree with the call. Stadium 3 doesn’t have Hawkeye so Nalbandian wandered over to the stands and discussed it with a few people there instead.

I can see why Stepanek took that second set; he was still making beautiful shots when I got there. He made an excellent passing shot from deep in the corner and he got a break point at 2-2. Nalbandian calmly bounced the ball on the edge of his racket to show how unaffected he was by the whole thing, served up the ball and got himself to the net. He had Stepanek on the run and got an open court – all he had to do was hit a crosscourt volley – but he couldn’t, he hit the ball long. Stepanek had his break.

That point is Nalbandian’s game in a nutshell. He has the calm of person who treats each moment the same and he has exceptional tennis skills. He puts himself in position to win but you’re never sure that’s the reason he’s out there. That’s been the arc of his career too. He hung around for years getting to semifinals and finals yet he only had five tour titles coming into the fall of 2007. Then, after suffering through injury and malaise for most of the year, he won two Masters Series events in a row after never having won a Masters Series event and he beat Roger Federer in both tournaments to do it.

Stepanek must be an opposite personality type to Nalbandian. He’s cagy and he’ll do anything to win including unnerving his opponent if he can find a way to do it. When the players were changing sides in the third set tiebreaker, Stepanek jumped over the net and walked directly to the baseline instead of wandering over to his chair to get a drink. It was his not so subtle way of saying that he was in better shape than Nalbandian.

Nalbandian got to that tiebreaker with one of those exceptional tennis skills – he hit two good returns to get back on serve and went up a mini-break in the tiebreaker with another good return. It’s an impossible question to ask: How much of a tennis victory is won by your mind and how much by your tennis skills?

You can’t answer it absolutely but you can compare players and comparing these two I’d say that Nalbandian leans more on his game and Stepanek more on his mind. What I mean is that Nalbandian puts himself into position to use his tennis skills by staying calm – which is arguably a mind skill – and Stepanek depends a bit more on strategy and mind games.

Stepanek had six aces in that 6-0 second set and he hit three service winners and a second serve ace in the tiebreaker which took him all the way to 6-6. Nalbandian then hit a service winner of his own and a passing shot and the weird match with the double momentum swing was over. Nalbandian had done it again.

Courtesy Car

Apropros of nothing, as I left to go to dinner, I saw a guy walk out with a backwards tipped cap carrying two tennis bags. He was by himself and he walked up to a tournament courtesy car, threw his bags into the trunk of the Mercedes S.U.V. and drove away. At first I thought it was Federer and, in fact, it was. No entourage, no driver, just the keys to the car. I guess that’s the sign of superstardom. You don’t get a shuttle back to your hotel, you get your own car.