TENNIS in DEPTH.

John Lloyd resigned as skipper of Great Britain’s Davis Cup team following the humiliating loss to Lithuania earlier this month and he believes the team have no chance of returning to the top level in the Davis Cup without Andy Murray.

He said at the weekend: “Call me old-fashioned, but when is it a convenience, and not a privilege, to play for your country? I know Roger Federer, and other top players, pick and choose when to play in the Davis Cup. But does that make it right? The answer is a resounding ‘No’.

Some tennis players of both sexes do not take either the Davis Cup or the Fed Cup seriously. With Federer in their team the Swiss would have defeated Spain, with Roddick in their team the USA would have beaten Serbia….the list goes on and on.

Many players such as Djokovic, Nadal, Nalbandian, Jankovic and others put representing their country higher than entering a Grand Slam for personal pride and satisfaction. Their reward is something higher than points or money!

 ”If England’s football team had failed to qualify for the World Cup, would it be OK for Wayne Rooney to turn around and say that he didn’t think he’d bother playing for the international team until they had some proper matches, or a team worthy of his time? Of course not.

“When did it come about that someone only played for their country when they had a good team? Yet the public seem to have accepted Andy should be playing only when the team are in the upper echelons of the competition.

“The reality is that the only way for Britain to get back to the World Group of the Davis Cup is with him in the team.”

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Ivan Lubicic, a player that considered retirement a year ago, played the best tennis of his career to win the 2010 Indian Wells tournament with a masterful victory over Andy Roddick. To get to the final he defeated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Even the most ardent Roddick fan must have felt heart warmed to see the display of brilliant tennis that Lubicic provided, the likes of which has been missing from the ATP tour for too long.

Lubicic did everything right, he may never repeat today’s feat, so for those of us who were privilged to see the match and the absolute perfection of a tennis match we must be thankful.

He will move up to be within the top 15 in the rankings(he was once #3), but whatever his number it really doesn’t matter because he has established himself as one of the best players to ever pick up a racquet.

I for one look forward to watching him compete again.

“It was really a mind game,” Ljubicic said.

“When you have two big serves, not a lot of rallies happening, it’s a very mental match. I was fortunate enough to be more relaxed by the end.”

Roddick was trying to become the first American man to win at Indian Wells since 2001, but he trailed in both tie-breakers.

He had beaten Ljubicic seven times in 10 meetings, winning their last match at Indian Wells in two tie-breakers in 2007.

“I felt like I was winning my fair share of the rallies once we got into them,” he said. “I just ran into a guy who served great on the big points. Unfortunately that’s probably the one thing that I don’t have control over out there.”

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Jelena Jankovic claimed the BNP Paribas Open title with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki in Indian Wells.

The former world number one set up the win with three breaks of serve in the opening set and broke immediately in the second to clinch her first title since Cincinnati in August last year.

Jankovic had endured a below-par season before arriving at Indian Wells for the first Masters Series event of the year and had made a first-round exit in her previous tournament in Monterrey.

But after rediscovering some of her best form in California the 25-year-old Serbian swept past the rising talent of Wozniacki to win in one hour and 24 minutes.

The disappointment of defeat for 19-year-old Wozniacki should be tempered slightly, however, with her progress to the final set to see her rise to a career-high ranking of number two when the new rankings are released on Monday.

Wozniacki’s cause was not helped in the first set as she won just 30% of points on her first serve.

Jankovic then closed in on the title when she immediately broke in the first game of the second set.

It was all she needed as she held serve thereafter to lift the title.

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The winner takes home $605,500 and 1,000 ATP Ranking points, while the loser only gets $295,500 and 600 ATP Ranking points.

 Andy Roddick will take on Ivan Ljubicic in the championship of the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday. Roddick leads the series 7-3, winning their last meeting here in two tie-breaks in the quarter-finals in 2007.

Both players are appearing in their first final in Indian Wells. The last American winner here was Andre Agassi in 2001 and Ljubicic is the first Croatian to reach the final in tournament history (since 1976). Roddick is 4-3 in his career in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals while Ljubicic is 0-3.

Roddick, who is 28-18 lifetime in finals, is trying to become the third player this year to win two ATP World Tour titles, joining Croat Marin Cilic and Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Ljubicic is 9-12 in his career in ATP World Tour finals and he’s trying to win his first title in the United States. His previous final was in Miami in 2006. Ljubicic, at 31 years, 2 days, is looking to become the second-oldest tourney winner behind Jimmy Connors (31 yrs., 5 mons.) in 1984.

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Rafael Nadal helped ease the disappointment of losing in the singles semi-finals earlier on Saturday (falling to Ivan Ljubicic) by teaming with fellow Spaniard Marc Lopez to take the BNP Paribas Open doubles championship.

A wild card team into this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Lopez-Nadal dropped just one set en route to their second title together, in their first-round upset of No. 3 seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes.

In Saturday’s final they defeated No. 1 seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, 7-6(8), 6-3. Both teams dropped serve once in the first set but Lopez-Nadal didn’t offer their higher-ranked opponents a single break point in the second set, securing the title in one hour, 35 minutes.

“For me it’s a pleasure to play with Marc,” said Nadal. “He’s a very close friend of mine, and we do really well. After losing important singles, the victory in doubles makes me happy. Always is nice to win a tournament.

“We never thought about winning the tournament here, so we’re very happy for that. We enjoying a lot playing together.”

Coincidentally, Lopez-Nadal beat the Canadian-Serbian duo to win their first title as a team, in Doha in 2009. Nestor and Zimonjic were also runners-up in Indian Wells in 2007, although Nestor won this event four times with Mark Knowles.

This is Nadal’s sixth ATP World Tour doubles title and second at Masters 1000 level (also Monte Carlo in 2008 with Tommy Robredo). Lopez has won both of his career doubles titles with Nadal; the compatriots were playing as a team for only the fifth time.

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Defending champion Rafael Nadal missed out on a place in the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after going down in three sets to Ivan Ljubicic today.

The Croatian, seeded 20, beat the third seed 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7/1) in two hours 34 minutes in the semi-final tie.

He fired down 17 aces, including eight in the decider, to move within a match of the title.

There was little sign of an upset when the Spaniard broke twice to take the opening set, his opponent having real trouble on his second serve, winning just 18% of points on it.

Ljubicic dug in, though, saving five break points in the second set and taking one of his two to level the match.

Nadal’s serve was starting to falter, his 65% first serves in the opening set falling to 48% in the second.

There was a break apiece in the third, Nadal recovering from dropping his serve early on, but it was Ljubicic who seized the initiative when it mattered in the tie-break to send Nadal crashing out.

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Rafael Nadal ensured his place in at least one final this weekend at the BNP Paribas Open, after teaming up with fellow Spaniard Marc Lopez for a 6-4, 6-4 semi-final win over sixth-seeded duo Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley on Friday afternoon in Indian Wells.

Nadal will play his singles semi-final against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic at noon Saturday, before he and Lopez compete for the doubles title at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament after 5:00pm.

Nadal and Lopez are playing in their fifth tournament together, and claimed an ATP World Tour title on their partnership debut – defeating Nestor and Zimonjic in the 2009 Doha final.

The 23-year-old Nadal claimed both the singles and doubles (w/Robredo) titles two years ago in Monte Carlo, becoming just the fourth player in the history of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments to accomplish the feat.

Lopez and Nadal will again meet Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the championship match after the tournament’s No. 1 seeds defeated big-serving American duo John Isner and Sam Querrey, 6-4, 6-2, in 58 minutes.

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A knee injury has forced five-time Sony Ericsson Open champion Serena Williams to withdraw from the event, which is scheduled to start next week.

Williams, a 12-time Grand Slam winner, hasn’t played since completing her title run at the Australian Open earlier this year. She has been hampered with the left knee injury.

Juan Martin del Potro also withdrew Friday, citing a wrist injury.

Friday’s announcement was the latest in a series of withdrawals for the Key Biscayne tournament. Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina and Nikolay Davydenko all disclosed on Wednesday they wouldn’t play because of injuries.

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