Friday, March 12, 2010

Indian Wells - David Faces Koubek in the First Round

The order of play for David's opening match in Indian Wells has now been released. He is scheduled for third on Stadium 2, following Elena Dementieva's match in case you were wanting to keep track of when that might start.

I predict that the match will start sometime around 2:30pm California time. This is 10:30pm GMT/7:30pm in Argentina. Perhaps it would be best to use the Time and Date website for time zone conversions.

It has now been revealed that David will play against Stefan Koubek in the first round, one of the more experienced players on the tour.  He is ranked 132 at the moment but most people will be familiar with his game, having had a relatively solid and consistent career, and having played his fair share of matches on the ATP circuit, outside of challengers.

I am having a look at the head-to-head ranking and David leads it 2-0, with both wins occurring in 2004 and on clay, though I was more caught by seeing how strange it was, seeing David's ranking as even lower than Koubek's with their names right next to each other, after mentioning Koubek's ranking earlier.

I think of Koubek as a slightly tricky player.  He's a lefty player with nice finesse, and is particularly good at creating angles.  He's quick around the court and relatively consistent from the back of the court, though I guess his foot speed is maybe not as good as it was a couple of years ago.  The main problem for him is that he can't seem to generate that much pace on his shots, so he's not exactly a threatening player, and his serve is also very average.  In short, David should easily be able to control the rallies (then again he does against everyone these days trying to conserve energy), but Koubek might throw him off his rhythm a little bit.

There is no television coverage and no live streams, so I guess we'll all just have to watch the scoreboard.  And maybe post here in the meantime (to make it feel like we're spending time in front of a computer doing more than just watching a scoreboard move).

103 comments:

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

No Problem for David when he feels good and is fit.

Noubar said...

hate the live scores, but at least if he wins, maybe we get to c nalby vs Melzer live on tv

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

go to fromsport.com when the match begins and then you will see if the match is showed on live stream(s) or not. On that site there is no program list that we know which upcoming matches will be showed.

Anna said...

For a "normal" David? No problem, I agree. But David is not normal now, He's trying to insert again in teh circuit.
The tennis is intact, but his body and timing are not.
Plus, besides the surgery, he's recovering from some minor injuries because his lack of competition (he had some pain after the doubles in the DC, for example).
I'm very nervous, to be honest. I don't want him to lose today. It's been a long time since I watched Koubek play. And I know he's not playing good since a while. But this is his 4th match in 10 months for David.

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

In this year when David tried to play he got always after 1 or 2 matches injured or felt not really good. I wish him all the best, but I'm afraid his body can't take more then 3 matches this week. I miss David soooo much in tennis in last years, where he only played 2-4 matches good per year

Benji said...

Ye Gods,could Elena please stop mugging it up?

Noubar said...

exactly Benji, she killed me, she forgot to serve, for the love of God, close this fukin match up

Andvari said...

Gasquet just lost, so he won't be able to take care of Monfils anymore.

Benji said...

She listened!

Noubar said...

Benji lol
ya after u post ur comment, she served her first ace saving the break point, nice job
Cmmon Daviiiiiiiiiiiiiiid

hayrabet said...

i'm back again, i've had some tough accountancy exams ( 1st year university), now i'm back. I want to see david, will there be a live stream or something?

Benji said...

If I start slagging David off during this match,you'll know why!

Noubar said...

no live streams, just live scores.
@Benji yes i will, but maybe u wont need to

Andvari said...

Well, he starts pretty well. 1st break

Noubar said...

ya baby, nalby broke already, i wanna sleep, make it fast nalby

Benji said...

David gets off to a sucky start-he allowed Koubek a point in his first service game!

Noubar said...

woooooooow, 2 aces, fire

Andvari said...

two aces already!

Noubar said...

hahahahah massacre, he is killing him, i told u no need to panic

hayrabet said...

hmm nais.....
a shame we cant watch this match..

Noubar said...

benji, total points, 12-1

Andvari said...

aj, Koubek is coming back

hayrabet said...

koubek wins 3 points on 3 first serve's'" :')

Andvari said...

Cmon David!! Break him back!!!

Noubar said...

cant believe it

Noubar said...
This post has been removed by the author.
Noubar said...

i think both players are good in returning serves rather than serving
cmmon break

Anonymous said...

this surface is really slow, nalbandian will take out any big servers.

Benji said...

An even worse game by David as Koubek is allowed to get to deuce!

Noubar said...

1st serve percentage very low 50%

Hardesky said...

Does anyone know which outfit David is wearing? Is it the same one as in Buenos Aires or is it a different color? (yeah it's probably a dumb question because nobody can watch this mate via live stream)

Tim said...

David broke back again. lol Is all the above analysis from watching the IW Live Scores? I give up looking for a stream of any kind. It is bizarre that one can watch any match from one of the two challenger events, but can't see anything from the 1000 pt Masters event. I guess starting tomorrow...

David held! 5-1! :) VAmoooooose Daaveeeed!

Yea, Andvari, I noted Gasquet choked in 2 tiebreakers again. I don't know if Gruel can get it done against Monfils.

Hardesky said...

Oh an I already called this match in another post 6-2, 6-4 and this seems to be right on track to being correct =)

Andvari said...

Yeah! He takes the set!

Noubar said...

ok 1st set in bed 6-2, much better service game, percentage rises to 60%, total points 18-31, impressive

Noubar said...

@ TIM, welcome to the team

Noubar said...

u might also wanna c the othe female Argentine playing good tennis against henin

Tim said...

Nice between the legs passing shot by David on set point. Glad it clipped the net and dropped softly to kiss the sideline.

lol just kidding...no idea of how he did it, but it is looking good!

31-18 in points. Great domination, Noubar!

Noubar said...

Cmmmmon Nalby make it fast and painful ,,,
amazing return winner by nalbandian

Andvari said...

Waaa! I can't even follow the scoreboard. There are firealarms going crazy everywhere in my hotel where I work!!

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

I search for live streams at moment but don't find any :-(
But why are there no live streams for Indian Wells at the moment. It will hopefully change in the next rounds.

Noubar said...

wut the hell, 2 BPs, cmmon dave

Andvari said...

shit 3-1, hopefully he can break back again!

Tim said...

@Noubar, the Argentine playing Henin is Dulko, right? Wow! She is up on Henin 4-2! They got a photo of her between changeovers:

http://www.portalpixel.com/wp-content/uploads/gisela-dulko.jpg

:drool:

Not going so well in the second set. :( Koubek just broke David and it is now 1-3. David, same thing as first set in Sweden. Show him who is boss!!

Andvari said...

0-40... cmon!

Noubar said...

break BACK NOWWWWWWWWW, its an order

Andvari said...

YESSSSS

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

3:1 for Koubek, but David makes the rebreak to 2:3

Hardesky said...

I'm telling you 6-2, 6-4

Noubar said...

y is he late? pls god no medical timeouts

Tim said...

Hold that serve now, David!!! 3-4

40-30...whew...this is a tough set to watch on live scoreboard. :)

YESSSS!!! He does it! 4-4

Noubar said...

now can he hold on 5-4, pls dooo

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

Why has David problems, especially in return games !?!?

Andvari said...

Yeah, the return games went better in the first set, but now..

Tim said...

@Hardesky...this is the game that determines your prophetic abilities. lol

C'mon David, break him and make it 6-4!
EDIT======

Crap! Koubek holds. This one may be going to a tiebreak. :(

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

Koubek made the game to 5:4 oh i'm nervous

Andvari said...

Serving under pressure now at 5-4 to stay in the set

Noubar said...

very nice hold, now break
or hardesky loses lol

Tim said...

@ Ashot007ARMENIA

I have no idea. None of us can see the match. Koubek has been a fairly decent player in the past though, so guessing that is it. David did break back once this set so Koubek is not exactly doing a Karlovic on him. :)

5-5
and now 0-30! Break him again, David!!!!

Andvari said...

Koubek starts with double fault, yes!


0-30 now!!!!!

Noubar said...

yessssssssssss
3 break points, i think john hardesky made a good bet

Andvari said...

Yeah !!! he takes it , allright David, 1 game to go now

Benji said...

Anything more buttock-clenching than David trying to serve out a match?

Hardesky said...

Sorry guys I guess i'm a little off on my David-Radar, but you have to give me a break it's a little rusty from last year. I'll just have to get the Meltzer match right.

Tim said...

Vamos David!!! He breaks at 5-5! YESSSS!!! How many breaks does he have now? Two this set and at least 3 last set!

Serving for the match!!! Fans are on the edge of their seats in Indian Wells.

Andvari said...

Shit! Tiebreak

Tim said...

@Benji

Agreed! :(

Tiebreak again as David loses game serving for the set/match for zillionth time. :(

C'mon, David! Stop messing with us! :)

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

the old David in usual bad times with bad services and giving his service games in important moments

Andvari said...

4-1 for david all right!

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

oh, they are in the end of 2. set, but they have played 70 minutes only.

Hardesky said...

My uncle is down in Indian Wells and probably just got down there to see the David match. David looked up at the crowd saw him, nodded and smiled. He knew he had to give his fans more of a show. My uncle just gave him the thumbs up and mouthed to David, just save the domination for Gael Monfils....

Noubar said...

yessssssssssssss

Tim said...

Allez!!! David wins both of the Koubek serves. He now serves up 4-1 in the tiebreak!

Oopps! There goes one mini-break. 4-2. Hold one of your serves, dammmmmit!!! 2nd Serve. :(

Uhhhh....live score just jumped to 6-2, David....that's great! Somehow Koubek quickly lost antoher point.

Match point!

Andvari said...

Yeaaaaaaaah!!! He won!!

Great

hayrabet said...

he won!!!

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

David wins with 6:2 7:6 (2) :)
good luck in next matches and for his health and fitness.

Hardesky said...

Pictures of the match, I need Pictures!

Noubar said...

Congratssssssss
same score david won on their last meeting, 6-2 7-7
btw as tim always says, david never wins a match without the drama, so here is a little verve games in the TB, but who cares, david id through inti the 2nd round

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

do you all follow on
http://www.fromsport.com/video-199165.html

Andvari said...

I am happy I can see him in the second round live

Tim said...

6-2, 7-6 (2)!!!! VAMOS DAVID!!! @Hardesky, you're Uncle is probably appreciative of the extra show David game him!!! David aims to please when it comes to extending sets. lol

Now onwards to a match we can actually watch. Melzer better watch out!!!

Benji said...

Good old Nalby! Can't resist giving us a few heart palpitations,can he?

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

pictures may be on eurosport.de/com later later or maybe in an half hour

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

I have recherched for a live stream, but there isn't any.
But someone wrote on Andy Murray forum that the live streams will be form tomorrow. Do you know something about it?

Tim said...

Points info: If a WC loses his first match, he doesn't get any points the way a qualifier would. So this was an important win. David in the round of 64. He is now 4-0 on the year (1-0 in Doubles, saw that he jumped 51 places to 275 after DC rubber win). Yes, obviously he is back and completely ready for the ATP tour. :)

Noubar said...

ya 2morrow, because indian wells starts broadcasting matches from the 2nd round, plus hit for haiti today

Tim said...

@Ashot007ARMENIA

Yes, I do know about the live stream thingie. It seems Sky Sports is calling Saturday Day 1 of Indian Wells. lol So if they are broadcasting the matches, they will be up in live streams.

@Andvari, tested every RTMP and RTMP software tool known to mankind. RMC is the best if it isn't ONLY on justin.tv. Getflv has a built in Sky Sports recorder. Jaksta is best for recording live streams on Justin.tv, although it only records the live stream, but you can screw with the screen and do other things, so it is more than a screen capture tool. Bitrecorder is only program that actually records Justin.tv, and freeware doesn't time out, but the quality is really bad.

Anna said...

Well, serving for match and losing the game? David IS back!!!! ;)

I think David will have to improve a lot from here. Just based in what I saw in the scoreboard.

He starts full machine and then slow down. Don't know if he's regulating (trying to do it with a set on his favor) or if he has some troubles after some time of playing.

For Melzer, he must play better. Melzer is playing very, very good lately.
But baby steps? Fist step won. And with some luck, with no pain or similar. (the pain he could feel is logic and due to the lack of competition. Like his left leg after the DC doubles )

Ashot007ARMENIA said...

Thanks Noubar!
It's too late now, must go to sleep.
Goodnight everyone!

Andvari said...

Thanks for the info Tim. Let's hope we won't have to record from justin.tv then. Are you gonna record it you think? (If they show it off course)

Noubar said...

good night everyone, donno if david plays 2morrow or after, but tc everybody, i enjoy commenting with u.

Andvari said...

Goodnight Ashot007Armenian and Noubar. Until next time

Tim said...

@Andvari, I'm going to keep trying until I get something right. I can't get Bet365, or I wouldn't be so desperate to find a tool that can handle justin.tv, as RMC does the job nicely in that case. I got a Trojanless version of WM Recorder 14.1, and it is the best at recording Windows streaming media, but is helpless on Justin.tv web matches. Not sure if it works on justin.tv Flash matches yet...I think it did work in that case, but that is from long ago. Jaksta actually records Justin.tv, but doesn't save packets and "download" it. But it is great because it does MORE than screen capturing and gets good resolution. WM Recorder saves a very fine stream the way RMC does, but it is slower and in the same time RMC gets 10 minutes, it only gets 30 seconds...granted a wonderfully recorded 30 seconds, but slow as hell! lol

So, in short, I'm going to be practicing before David's match to see which ones work best, but I'm still in experimental mode and obviously you record masterpieces. I never realized how complicated this all could get. Phew!! I guess DRM rights and Adobe Flash proprietary rights are what is making it such a headache for everyone.

Andvari said...

@Tim:

It must be pretty frustrating with all those programs to see how it works. I hope you will manage to get a good download when practising. I will try to record, but if he has to play on sunday I will have to work again and I can't use RMC on my work. ( my boss kinda mad with all that downloading)

Tim said...

@Andvari

LMAO lol

You're boss should realize Nalby is always the priority over meaningless job stuff! :)

If it is available on Sky Spots or Freedocast, I'm free to use RMC and I got the 3.11 version (tip: I got full versions of all these things by using "Mediafire" as key word...people don't upload to Mediafire for massive downloading, they do it for friends...so big diff in safety).

If it is only on Justin, I'll go with Jaksta. I am impressed with that program and I think that it may be you're best alternate in the future if the matches are only on Justin. Download the free demo if nothing else and try it out on Justin sometime. The Google keywords for the program I got "JakstaX32_v3160.rar Mediafire".

Andvari said...

Thanks Tim! I'll try using Jaksta next time when I want to record a match from Justin. And thanks for the key!

Andvari said...

It's funny to read some Austrian newspapers that they were already speculating for a second round between two Austrians, they guessed wrong

Tim said...

You're welcome, Andvari! It seems like every player has some strength or weakness, and it is not predictable, but Jaksta gets the job done on everything, and is a great back-up plan.

Odd observation: For my flaky stream, WM Recorder 14.1 kicks some serious butt on atdhe.net US Stream for NBA Basketball (testing Lakers/Phoenix fast action; every sort of player on streams right now). It captures that Stream quickly for some reason, and the playback and the resolution on playback is gorgeous with no blips or mistakes. There are advertisements for Indian Wells on the UStream.net broadcast and the main ad just played with Fed, Nole, Murray, Rafa, etc., and was perfect. The RMC capture got a little screwed by the freezing and jumps in this case, and didn't do as well as Jaksta which was good, but WMR clearly was superior in this case and results look better than what I was seeing live by a mile. WMR was worthless for Challenger Tennis matches I recorded yesterday for practice whereas RMC was great. Very odd! The google key words are "WM.Recorder.14.1.rar Mediafire" for that one.

As to the Austria comments, we have been watching David do nothing but win since December. lol We are in danger of taking him for granted. Most of the tennis world probably doesn't believe quite yet, despite the hints, that he is ready to do much on the tour right now. That would be the realistic expectation. He has blown me away thus far and it is clear that he is 100% committed to this comeback. I think many people are in for a big surprise. ;)

Tim said...

On the above comment, just for Andvari (boring tech stuff, sorry, but since live discussions on David are now several posts ahead elsewhere on Vamos David...), WM Recorder did an hour of perfect downloading of the Atdhe.net US Stream/Nova Sports for the Phoenix Suns/Lakers Bball game and then extended coverage into football (turned into Nova sports)and captured an Ad in Spanish for Indian Wells (after having English ads during the game) that was quite nice that I only saw in playback.

So US Stream/Nova Sports at Atdhe.net are covering it tomorrow and if I can get a link off Atdhe.net, I'm going to use WM Recorder for saving as it was perfect and I could even close the stream window and it continued to save the end of the game and promotions afterward, What it saved did not reflect the quality of what I saw live...it was much better!!! :) The file it created was a 40 mg .flv file for an hour of coverage and it created it on the fly at about an equal time rate to the time spent recording with it.

So WM Recorder was very slow and took half an hour to save 40 seconds of video (albeit a gorgeous resolution of perfect footage for 40 secs) of a Moroccan stream at Rabat yesterday (RMC was great and got a full hour of video saved as expected), but RMC missed tons of footage and recorded freeze scrape noises on this stream (lots of skipping around time-lines too) whereas WMR couldn't have done a better job. So it appears the particular stream and the hardware/software they use sending it out determines how different rtmp recorders are going to capture them and save it. And RMC and WMR can be MUCH better than the other recorder depending on the stream. So my dismissal of WMR was a little too hasty. It performs like a monster off Adhe.net so far.

Krystle Lee said...

Tim, can you send me a copy of the Jaksta serial number? The ones I've downloaded seem to all be rejected.

Tim said...
This post has been removed by the author.
Krystle Lee said...

Thanks I have downloaded it. I guess I will try it with "Day 1" of coverage tomorrow morning lol.

I had a brief look at Process Explorer, and to me it just looks like an elaborate version of Task Manager. I generally use NetLimiter to track how my internet connection is going, as in at what speed it is currently downloading from a certain window.

Tim said...

Okay doke, Krystle. You know your stuff! :) I'll check out NetLimiter. Thanks for the tip.

Process Explorer also shows you hooks so you can see if any of the svchost.exe files are being hijacked. It is like an elaborate Task Manager that gives you more info. I just like to be extra careful. I always use HijackThis before rebooting too to make sure junk hasn't added itself to my list of Services and jobs.

I will delete my previous post with instructions to keep that site and that info protected.