9vicman wrote:

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the addict wrote:

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Five out of five !

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 Five out of five again. 

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 Oh, that was a surprise to wake up to - the Indian Wells historically poor British doubles record is sustained 

So the 2nd and 6th seeds lost to ALTs ?

Hmm....

This was Harri's summary of things on his blog

It doesn't help, our opponents played better than us at the beginning and end of the match today and deserved their victory at the end of a rainy day. We pulled home the second set with a great effort, but in the third set our opponents managed to take control again. This loss is of course disappointing, but you can't complain about it any more in retrospect. Back to the training ground and towards Miami.


The Palm Desert area was expected to see showers from morning to evening today, and it turned out to be a long day. We arrived at the venue at 9:00, but we finally got to bowl just before noon, as the morning rain had moved on. However, more showers kept coming, and although we were finally able to start our match after two, we had to take a rain break in the third set for a good two hours before the match was finally completed under artificial lights.

The match started awkwardly as the opponents took a break when Henry served right in the opening game. Second serves were punished mercilessly, while we could not really put pressure on their serves, as the opponents both served accurately and played almost flawlessly after their serves. I saved three break points from 0-40 in a 2-4 situation, but a double fault in a no-ad situation gave the opponents another break. We got our only break point of the set in the next game on a Bhambri serve, but that point also ended for the opponents, and the whole set was thus 2-6.

In the second set, we clearly raised the level of our first serve and in the end only lost six points that started with our serves in the whole set. The returns were already going better in the early stages of the set, but we were unable to win two consecutive points in the opponents' service turns. However, in the 5-4 situation, we finally had some successes in the same return turn, but Göransson cleared the set point with a good serve, after which Bhambri played a great volley to my good return. In the 6-5 situation, however, our hard fight was finally rewarded, when we played a couple of great points at the beginning, after which Bhambri actually fell into an easier mistake for the first time in the whole match. The third set point brought the desired result, and the match was decided via MTB.

Göransson returned Henry's serve in MTB's first point unstoppably, and after two good serves, he succeeded again in his excellent return also in the 1-3 situation. The momentum did not continue at the pace of the second set, as the ends were changed in the 1-5 situation. We got one mini-break back at that point, but Bhambri's precise lob return neutralized Henry's good first, and the point did not improve for us. Henry cleared the next point with a magnificent first volley, even though it was already drizzling from the sky, and in the end the referee was forced to stop the game in the 3-6 situation and send us indoors.



The course is transported to the course in typical American style, of course, by golf cart, which became familiar today, as we drove between the locker rooms and the course several times. However, the players are allowed to travel between the competition venue and the hotel in their own cars, while the tournament offered the use of sharp BMWs for the placed players.
The rain continued for a while, until it turned into a very light on-off drizzle that lasted for several hours. We already went to the edge of the court once, ready to continue the match, but we returned inside again before the match was allowed to continue under artificial lights at 7 pm. We got one mini-break back in the point immediately after the break, but Göransson's next serve was strong. I think my serves in the 4-7 situation were both quite good, but both points went to the opponents. I saved the first match point with a good return, but in the 5-9 situation Göransson's poka volley brought the decision.

I have to admit that in terms of gameplay, days are rarely identical. If yesterday Henry was on fire and I occasionally had to pick up on passing and rebounding, today the roles seemed to have been reversed. Of course, there was also a lot of goodness from the opponents, but I would have thought that today would be an easier day, especially in terms of returns, since there were no two-meter-tall passers-by. I had clearly better power with my returns than yesterday and they also found the court really well, but somehow the opponents' net player was miraculously often in the right place. Just like they punished our second passes at a confusingly high level.

In the second and third sets, our first serve percentage was already at a really good level, but somehow our opponents found ways to take those crucial points in MTB, especially with their returns. I am really proud of our team, how we got into the fight in the second set, and didn't give up after the first set, but it seemed like our opponents had more of a magic potion than us. For Bhambri, this was already an incredible sixth consecutive match that has ended in his victory via MTB, and he clearly has some special way of breaking the mold of British players, because in addition to us, he has also beaten Cash/Glasspool twice this year. But it was Göransson who played MTB the best. He returned four really strong returns, and put all four of his firsts on the court hard. Hats off to him and congratulations.

Our tournament in Indian Wells ends sadly early. The exes' match against Cash/Glasspool still hasn't happened. The competition is incredibly tough, and you have to play your best day after day if you want to succeed in this level of competition. The goal is to be number one in the world, but it won't happen by accident. Many things still need to fall into place.

Training will continue for the next couple of days at Henry's place in North Carolina, from where we'll head to Miami after the weekend. At least there's enough hunger left for that Miami race now, and once we get a few more quality training days under our belt, anything is possible again in the next race. Let's just hope Bhambri is on the other side of the chart. And many more good game days for both of us. The races in Miami won't start until next Tuesday at the earliest.

Shame, as Henry was in with a shout of the world number one spot. I havent checked whether he can still do it in Miami or beyond, but presumably Arevalo and Pavic can open the gap a little now?

Harri wrote that Henry was not playing too well this match, maybe he put some pressure on himself with that spot being up for grabs this week?

indiana wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

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Shame, as Henry was in with a shout of the world number one spot. I havent checked whether he can still do it in Miami or beyond, but presumably Arevalo and Pavic can open the gap a little now?

Harri wrote that Henry was not playing too well this match, maybe he put some pressure on himself with that spot being up for grabs this week?

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 Yes, the gap is going to initially open after IW, the more with each further match that Arevalo & Pavic win and they would go over 1000 points clear if they win IW ( so then out of reach in Miami ). Anything less and they would be catchable in Miami, though Henry will no longer be ahead of Harri. 

Henry and Harri could still clearly overtake them somewhere down the line. But post IW was the one chance Henry had to go #1 by himself, ahead of Harri, unless and until they possibly diverge on points by going their separate ways for at least one tournament.

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 12th of March 2025 03:13:28 PM

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 thanks Indy - when would Harri's additional tournament fall off the system so that he and Henry are exactly aligned?

indiana wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

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indiana wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

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Shame, as Henry was in with a shout of the world number one spot. I havent checked whether he can still do it in Miami or beyond, but presumably Arevalo and Pavic can open the gap a little now?

Harri wrote that Henry was not playing too well this match, maybe he put some pressure on himself with that spot being up for grabs this week?

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 Yes, the gap is going to initially open after IW, the more with each further match that Arevalo & Pavic win and they would go over 1000 points clear if they win IW ( so then out of reach in Miami ). Anything less and they would be catchable in Miami, though Henry will no longer be ahead of Harri. 

Henry and Harri could still clearly overtake them somewhere down the line. But post IW was the one chance Henry had to go #1 by himself, ahead of Harri, unless and until they possibly diverge on points by going their separate ways for at least one tournament.

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 12th of March 2025 03:13:28 PM

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 thanks Indy - when would Harri's additional tournament fall off the system so that he and Henry are exactly aligned?

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They will be level on points after Miami. Harri will drop his mandatory 0 from Miami 2024 to be replaced by mandatory Miami 2025. Henry will drop his then lowest non mandatory counter of 175 points to give room for mandatory Miami 2025.

So the post IW 17/03 rankings will be the last ones where Henry will be ahead of Harri. They will be level on points on 31/03 ( Harri might be ranked ahead of Henry due to Henry having played an additional couple of tournaments, not sure though, we will see after Miami ).

They are due to be exactly aligned on points and tournaments played ( ie. only partnered each other in the previous year ) from 23/06.

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 ah, just in time for Wimbledon!

SF:  (1) Sara Errani & Andrea Vavassori (ITA/ITA) CR 14 (6+8) vs (4) Desirae Krawczyk (USA) & Neal Skupski CR 31 (15+16)

The Italians were pushed to an MTB by Babos & Arévalo.