Qualifier, old foes lurk in Indian Wells
An opening round clash against a qualifier is on the cards for Ernests as the BNP Paribas Open draw was unveiled today.
Should Ernests make it through, he will encounter a familiar face in Russia’s Igor Andreev, the No. 22 seed.
Andreev holds a 1:0 head-to-head advantage over Ernests, courtesy of his victory in their marathon 5-set slugfest in the second round of the Australian Open earlier this year.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France is seeded to be their potential opponent in the third round, unless Argentina’s Jose Acasuso or Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili – best known in Gulbis fandom as the player who holds a 4:0 career head-to-head record over Ernests – manages to orchestrate an upset.
Gilles Simon and Mario Ancic round up the seeds in Ernests’s section of the draw as they look set to clash for the third time this year. Simon defeated Ancic in Melbourne before the tall Croat exacted revenge in Rotterdam three weeks later.
Elsewhere in the draw, the top-seeded Rafael Nadal, fresh off a home win over Serbia in the Davis Cup, will face either Kevin Anderson of South Africa or a qualifier in the second round.
The world No. 2, Roger Federer, who is currently under the tutelage of Australia’s Darren Cahill, awaits the winner of the match between Italy’s Simone Bolelli or Frenchman Marc Gicquel.
The Swiss has not participated in any Tour events since his crushing loss to Nadal in this year’s Australian Open finals, citing a back injury.
Ernests is defending 40 points in this event, where he reached the second round last year before falling to David Nalbandian. Due to quirks in the newly introduced ranking system, he will need to reach at least the third round, which carries 45 points, to avoid a net loss of points.
The men’s main draw action will begin on Thursday, 12th March, with live streaming to go on air starting from Saturday.
Photo by Ivan Goroun
Zahirah, as you can see I have opened my eyes and do see the draw. I hope he is rested and ready to give a good showing. It is time. I will try to get to Florida and see him there.
I don’t know. Other then Igor I kind of like the draw, but then again im itching for a match against Gilles Simon..and I believe Andy Murray is in that draw also. Like Ivars said if Ernests is well rested and all health problems are under control I think he can play really well. *fingers crossed*
I can’t wait to watch some good tennis! (wish I could be there)
Good Luck Ernests!!!
=D
I dont mind the draw, so to speak. Other than Andreev its pretty good. I really hope ernests is ready and raring for his matches and i hope he enjoyed his two week mini break! I would love to see a match against ernests and gilles, if so i will have to get my wallet out and pay for some live stream it is too good to be screaming at my computer.
Ejam Erno! iet bby.
Good Luck Ernests
Do us PROUD!
If you want to watch live ATP World Tour matches, go to atdhe.net. It is always streaming from center court of the tournament, so when Ernests is there you can watch him without having to pay a penny. I watched him in Delray beach this way.
lets break the 2nd round curse!
all the best for this tournament .. we’re all with yu
g’luck ernie
Thanks Alex I will try it out if hopefully he makes the second or third round where he might be on centre court! Thanks heaps!
aww thanks Alex!! Wish I would have known that to watch him in delray haha. I hope he plays on center court! Tennis Channel(for those of you in the US like me) is suppost to show early round coverage but who knows what matchs they will show.
WOOHOO! Ernests won his first round match..now I just hope they show his second round on Tennis Channel.
=)
If it’s on center court, we can all watch it now!
Very dissapointing another second round loss. Maybe it is true when Ernest said he is 4 to 5 month away from good form to compete at top level. My question is. What happened? Why play so bad. Well he has 10 days till Masters in Miami. Hopeing for the best.
Zahirah if you know what the problem is let us know.