The BNP PARIBAS Open continued today as Federer got revenge on Ivo Karlovic while Gonzalez and Murray dominated James Blake and Paul Henry Mathieu. The BNP PARIBAS hasn’t gotten too much coverage in the U.S., but fans should notice Federer’s high level of play lately. He was back to his old self in beating a foe who ousted him last year in third round of a masters series. Federer is playing better and may be bouyed by the news that he is going to be a father, but will that be enough to beat a devastating Nadal on this surface?
Fernando Gonzalez continued his dominance over James Blake by beating him in 65 minutes. It was a one sided match that was not something you write home about. Murray was also impressive in bouncing back from his illness to utterly dominate Paul Henry. Murray is back, and he is in Federer’s half (danger!). But Verdasco is in Federer’s quarter, and he will pose a decent challenge to Fed.
I wish the Tennis Channel didn’t just pull the coverage after 2 days. It seems those guys just wanted to give us all a taste of the first round matches but had no plan to cover the whole event. It’s a shame, but tennis is simply disappearing from TV in the U.S. But don’t forget to check out Justin.TV or Satellite.TV for more information on how to watch tennis matches live.