I had some hopes for this match.
Viktor Troicki played a good match against his countryman, Novak Djokovic, at the U.S. Open. Troicki was up two sets to one and a break in the fourth set before the higher-ranked Serb came all the way back.
I'd even ridden down the hotel lift with Troicki this morning. Our conversation lasted 30 seconds—I told him I'd seen him beat Tomic earlier this week, and wished him a good match. No such luck.
Troicki became the third consecutive player to give up a bagel first set to Djokovic; he got his sole game (and the obligatory ironic applause from the crowd) at 1-1 in set two. That was the last sign of any fight from Troicki until he unexpectedly extended the final game to five deuces, although to no avail.
Djokovic has won 36 games at Indian Wells and conceded just six thus far, besting Nadal's 36-8 mark through his first three matches in Monte Carlo last year. But is he crushing his opponents, or are they beating themselves? Gulbis' play yesterday was woeful, and Djokovic admitted he didn't have to give the Latvian much of a push:
"[I]f he's not patient and not hitting the right balls like today, he can, you know, he can miss a lot. That's what happened. I was just trying to keep the ball in the court, not doing too much, you know, just returning a lot and making him play an extra shot and changing the pace."
It didn't look to me as if Djokovic had to do much more today. I asked him, in the press conference after the match, whether he thought the scorelines yesterday and today were down to outstanding play on his own part or failings by his opponents. He responded:
"I don't think I'm playing, you know, incredible tennis. I think I'm playing really, really solid and getting a lot of balls back into the court and making my opponent play an extra shot. Obviously I had two very big hitters yesterday and today, and big serves, but I was managing to return a lot of balls in and making them, you know, put a lot of unforced errors. That's what happened today. I think he had a very bad match in general. But I was very solid, and I keep on playing well. So this is what makes me happy."
In the April 2011 edition of TENNIS, Peter Bodo flags the win over Troicki at the U.S. Open as the pivotal moment for Djokovic in the last 12 months. He has the momentum of an 18-wheeler doing 70 mph in 2011, and it might take the best that Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal has to stop him from going to Miami undefeated.
—Andrew Burton