CHEECH SMOKES RAFA

 

 

Ivan Ljubicic posted a surprise semifinal victory on Saturday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open.

The 20th-seeded Croat downed favored third-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) to gain a berth in Sunday's final.

Nadal -- who won here in 2007 and 2009 -- breezed through the first set in a half hour, but Ljubicic roared back with four straight points in the second to win the set. The 31-year-old then toughed out a final set which took nearly an hour to complete to earn the victory.

It will be Ljubicic's first appearance in an ATP Masters Series final since bowing to Roger Federer in Miami four years ago. His opponent will be either seventh-seeded American Andy Roddick .

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INDIAN WELLS AND KEY BICAYNE ON TSN

Things Get Ugly Between Two Legends At Charity Event "Agassi/Sampras"

Agassi, in his book, "Open", asks a car valet how much Pete tipped him. The valet reluctantly says, "One dollar."
This revelation has lead to some hard feelings between Pete and Andre.

ANCIC AND MONO

Another former Top 10 player, Croatian Mario Ancic, won his first ATP World Tour match in more than year as he rallied from down a set and break to claim a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over American qualifier Bobby Reynolds.

Returning to Indian Wells held extra significance for the 25 year old, who had retired against countryman Ivan Lubicic after six games in his 2009 opener. “This week is so special for me because last year this was the last match, and then I haven’t played for almost a year,” said Ancic.

The Croat had reached a career-high No. 7 in 2006, but suffered a series of setbacks over the past couple years – largely caused by recurrences of mononucleosis. After receiving a clean bill of health in November, he tested out his match fitness at ATP Challengers and Futures events this season, and reached the final last week at a Futures tournament in Texas.

“The more matches I play, the better I will feel on the court definitely,” said Ancic.

NADAL'S RANKING

There will be a lot at stake for Rafael Nadal at the BNP Paribas Open from the Indian Wells Tennis Center at Indian Wells, California.  Nadal is the defending champion from 2009 and as a result he has 1000 points to defend, points that are scheduled to drop from his total on March 22nd, 2010.

Currently Nadal is ranked 3rd on the ATP tour with 7520 points and he could quite easily drop below 7000 points after Indian Wells.  Depending on how Andy Murray does at Indian Wells (he was a finalist last year) we might see Nadal slip back down to 4th on tour.

While nothing major will happen to Nadal's ranking in March, April and May of 2010 could be a different story.

Those two months will see a lot of tour ranking points at risk for Nadal.  On April 19th 1000 points are scheduled to drop from Nadal's total from his win at Monte Carlo in 2009.  On April 26th 500 points from his Barcelona title are scheduled to drop off as well.  On May 3rd his 1000 points from winning Rome last year are scheduled to drop and finally on May 17th 600 more points from his finals appearance at Madrid last year will be at risk.

There's also 180 points from his quarterfinals appearance in Miami last year that will be at risk soon but Nadal could defend those.

However a large chunk of the other 4100 points for the five other tournaments (Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid, and Barcelona) are in serious jeopardy of going undefended as Nadal's form is not the same now as it was at this time last year due to his nagging injuries.

CRUNCH SPORTS

INDIAN WELLS -TSN AND TSN2

HIP REPLACEMENT PROBLEMS

Some of the nation’s leading orthopedic surgeons have reduced or stopped use of a popular category of artificial hips amid concerns that the devices are causing severe tissue and bone damage in some patients, often requiring replacement surgery within a year or two.

In recent years, such devices, known as “metal on metal” implants, have been used in about one-third of the approximately 250,000 hip replacements performed annually in this country. They are used in conventional hip replacements and in a popular alternative procedure known as resurfacing.

The devices, whose ball-and-socket joints are made from metals like cobalt and chromium, became widely used in the belief that they would be more durable than previous types of implants.

The cause and the scope of the problem are not clear. But studies in recent years indicate that in some cases the devices can quickly begin to wear, generating high volumes of metallic debris that is absorbed into a patient’s body. That situation can touch off inflammatory reactions that cause pain in the groin, death of tissue in the hip joint and loss of surrounding bone.

WHOLE ARTICLE FROM NYTIMES