Djokovic Struggles while Jankovic Gets Too Much Face Time in Indian Wells.

Another long day at Indian Wells which saw more women’s seeds fall, Novak Djokovic struggle and a wild doubles match with James Blake and Andy Roddick that felt more like a Friday night high school football match. Meanwhile with Victoria Azarenka and Kim Clijsters falling by the wayside last night, Jelena Jankovic is probably the favorite for the women’s singles.

That’s not a typo.

When I started watching Novak Djokovic take on Phillip Kohlschreiber in the stadium, it looked like it would be a routine win for the Serb when he won the first set 6-2. I stepped away to watch Shahar Peer battle it out with Flavia Pennetta then stepped outside to find the German had won the second set and was up 3-0 in the third. Looking up at the jumbotron, “Nole” was huffing and puffing again after points so I don’t know if it was the heat or his lingering breathing problems. Djokovic fought back to go up a break, then lost it and then found himself down three match points on his serve.

But the German made the fatal mistake of not going for it and hoping Djokovic would miss. On 30-40 down, they went through a twenty shot rally where Djokovic finally prevailed and went on to win. Kohlschreiber looked dejected and he should have been, because you can’t win matches by hoping the other guy falls apart.

Rafael Nadal put on a clinic for an hour despite the best efforts of Mario Ancic. Right now, Nadal looks the most in form of all the top men, but it’s still early. He’s got John Isner next round. Will be interesting to see who the crowd roots for – the “rockstar” or the next great American hope.

The most anticipated match of the night, for the fans at least, was Andy Roddick and James Blake taking on Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in doubles. They were to play in the stadium but Jelena Jankovic decided she needed more face time under the lights as she took over two hours to take out Sara Errani 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. At one point after J.J. missed a passing shot, she fell to the ground onto her back looking up to the heavens for guidance. (Attention Oscars committee for 2011) No wonder fans were openly wishing J.J. would lose because they wanted to get in for Blake/Roddick.

Instead that match got moved to the smaller Stadium 2 and with it’s old school bleacher seats, the match felt more like a high school football game. Some guy, who proudly declared himself from Mississippi, kept yelling “that’s how it’s done” when Roddick hit an ace and sent his wife/girlfriend on beer runs every 20 minutes. But yet, there were chants of “Go Canada” (for Nestor) in the stands too.

It was a close match that the more experienced and successful team of Nestor/Zimonjic finally won 6-4, 3-6, 10-7. Fans cheered Roddick and Blake for their efforts which was good and odd in a way since just as the present of U.S. Men’s tennis was leaving that court, the future of it (Querrey and Isner) were making their way onto the main stadium.

Talk about segues.

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Tagged as: Andy Roddick, Flavia Pennetta, James Blake, Jelena Jankovic, John Isner, Novak Djokovic, Sam Querrey, Shahar Peer