This is a disappointing result but there are some mitigating circumstances. It really sucks that Daniela hurt her back because that limited her and if she'd been fit, she'd have had a much better chance to win. The windy and cold conditions wouldn't have helped Daniela either as she generally plays her best tennis when it's warm and windless. Daniela kept fighting but it wasn't to be.

A worry is that Daniela had back problems at the end of last year and she withdrew from Linz and Bali because of it and she's got a back injury again. Hopefully, it's not too serious but back problems would explain things like the relative lack of potency on her serve. Daniela will have about two weeks to recover before she plays in Miami and she doesn't have too many points to defend over the next couple of months. If Daniela had won and aggravated the injury and had to miss tournaments then it would be a pyrrhic victory but maybe I'm trying to rationalise things. This is just gutting, especially as this is such a special tournament for Daniela and she gets hurt. Get well soon Daniela, the important thing right now is that she gets fit and healthy.

Im sorry that her favourite tournament had to end that way. But she will sure succeed somewhere else. Come on Dani!

Hope she will get well soon.


Good luck in Miami

Sucks to hear Daniela had a back injury, at her favourite tournament nonetheless... In retrospect, she at least put up a fight even if she wasn't 100% so I take back my comment that it was a horrid performance. Though, reports over at the TF say that Daniela is back to training, so hopefully the back injury isn't that bad and she can remain fit and healthy for Miami, where she has very little to defend.

On a side note, Daniela's side of the draw opened up with Azarenka losing to Martinez Sanchez, and the top half has completely opened up with Clijsters losing to Kleybanova. File this under another coulda woulda shoulda.

Daniela's Indian Wells Blog Tuesday, March 16, 20100

Hi everyone

Well, my time in Indian Wells is coming to an end. I did an autograph session Monday (thank you everyone who came!), got some treatment on my back and have been practicing too. Today I'm going to Miami, where I'll be seeing a doctor for the next few days. Hopefully I will be ready for Miami - you never know how long injuries will take to get better, but I'll do everything I can to be ready.

It was great to be at my favorite tournament. Even though I lost early it brought back so many good memories to be back here. And that's the beauty of tennis, that you can be in the finals one week and the next week you're out early. You never know what is going to happen. These days there are so many great players in every draw, it just shows how strong women's tennis is at the moment. Hopefully that makes it more exciting for all of you to follow

Thanks again for all of your support and talk to you soon!

Daniela

Harsh comment there. But it's true that the sisters would have many more IW titles if they still played the tourny. Still, stupid thing to say about daniela (and pretty bad journalism saying that she won it in 2000)...

Im still amazed how unlucky danka can be. The draw opened heavily, no Wickmayer, no Azarenka, no Kim, no Lena... Maybe daniela would ve had a shot at getting pretty deep here... Only if...

If Daniela wants to get back to the top, she must add something new to her game and improve her strong point. For example, I would say she can improve her forehand, which from my point of view is one of her advantages. Daniela keeps saying she is a "new player" now, has been improved a lot but honestly, I don't see that. In her match, she kept making the same mistakes. I think this year is really important to her bc she doesn't have much time left. She must do something otherwise she will stay like this until the end.Good post. The forehand is the only part of Daniela's game I trust right now-the backhand,which was so devastating earlier in her career,has regressed to a limp moonballing type of shot,and her serve is simlpy inadequate these days.

The simple solution for Daniela is to become more fearless in her shotmaking again,like she was in her teens. I don't think she will win many matches against the top 10 with her current clay-court game,as her courtspeed and defensive skills are not sufficient.

It was so painful seeing her helpless against the match with Vinci....
Daniela need to do so many things on training. It seems that she don't work well.