Djokovic, Nadal, Serena through
Print Edition
DEFENDING champion Novak Djokovic continued his dominance of Philipp Kohlschreiber, winning 7-5, 7-5 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, on Tuesday.
Rafael Nadal survived a wild tiebreaker to beat Fernando Verdasco 6-0, 7-6 (9), while two-time champion Serena Williams fired seven aces in a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko in the fourth round.
Djokovic, seeking his fifth title in the desert, beat Kohlschreiber for the eighth time in nine career matches against the German, who had 29 unforced errors. Djokovic had triple match point leading 5-3, 40-0 when he missed an easy overhead. The Serb was up a break in the first set when he also dropped serve.
“I cannot allow myself any more to react that way in those particular circumstances,” he said. “It does stay (in your mind). But it’s not the first time that it happens to me, so I think that kind of experience helps.”
Nadal, a three-time Indian Wells winner, saved five set points in the tiebreaker and finally closed it out on his second match point when Verdasco’s backhand sailed beyond the baseline.
“Feel lucky to win the tiebreak, and at the same time I think at the end of the tiebreak I played well with not many mistakes and going for the points,” Nadal said.
Verdasco has had the upper hand against his fellow Spaniard and doubles partner in the last few years, having won three of their previous four matches, including a five-setter in the first round of the Australian Open in January after Nadal beat him 13 straight times to start the rivalry.
Nadal advanced to the fourth round against Alexander Zverev, who beat 16th-seeded Gilles Simon, 6-2, 6-2. No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori edged Steve Johnson, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6) and next plays another American, John Isner, who beat Adrian Mannarino, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Williams hit 26 winners offset by 22 unforced errors to go with seven aces in her second Indian Wells appearance since 2001. She has yet to drop a set in three matches.
Five of the top 10 women’s seeds women have been knocked out, seemingly clearing the way for Williams to win her third career title here and first since 2001.
“So far I think my consistency has been well; being aggressive has been well; everything that I’ve wanted to do I’ve kind of been doing,” she said.
Williams will play defending champion Simona Halep in the quarterfinals, a year after she withdrew before their semifinal with a knee injury. Halep beat Williams at the 2014 WTA Tour finals.
Halep advanced when Barbora Strycova retired because of illness trailing 3-6, 0-1. Also retiring was No. 9 Roberta Vinci, who trailed Magdalena Rybarikova 2-6, 0-2 when she quit with a left ankle injury.
In another all-Spanish duel, Feliciano Lopez outlasted Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (5), 6-7 (10), 6-4. Dominic Thiem earned his ATP Tour-leading 22nd win of the year, beating Jack Sock 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1.
In other women’s fourth-round matches, Agnieszka Radwanska defeated 2010 winner Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-3, and Petra Kvitova defeated qualifier Nicole Gibbs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. No. 12 Timea Bacsinszky lost to Daria Kasatkina 4-6, 2-6.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
