Day 4 of the 2014 BNP Paribas Open was a long one on Stadium-2, with some fun and memorable moments. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the day was Francesca Schiavone’s first win of 2014 – a 3-set fight with Germany’s Mona Barthel. Coming into Indian Wells, Francesca was 0-7 on the season with 1st-Round singles losses in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Paris, Doha, Rio de Janeiro and Florianopolis. Her reaction to the win rivaled her victory celebration after winning the title at Roland Garros in 2010…it has hilarious, actually.
As we walked to center court for the post match interview, she stopped, knocked the clipboard from my left hand, grabbed by arm, and together we raised our fists in victory, jumping up and down, celebrating as if she’d just won the welterweight title. She was out of her mind. She told the crowd that she knew it was ridiculous to be THAT excited for a 1st-Round win, but it’d been a frustrating first two months of the season. The win was a breakthrough. Next up for Francesca – Sam Stosur, who is coming off a 2nd-Round exit in Doha and 1st-Round defeat in Dubai. Stosur is 7-4 against Schiavone, and won their most recent 3-setter two-years ago in Tokyo.
Edouard Roger-Vasselin won the first match of the day on Stadium-2, over Germany’s Benjamin Becker. After a Finals appearance in Chennai the first week of the season, then a 3rd-Round finish at the Australian Open and a Quarterfinals appearance in Montpellier, he reached a career-high ranking of #35 in the world. Edouard’s dad, Christophe, also played on the ATP World Tour – most-notably beating Jimmy Connors in the 1983 Roland Garros Quarterfinals. According to the ATP, Christophe’s career-high ranking was #39 in the world, so I asked Edouard if he gave his dad a hard-time after eclipsing that number. He was quick to point out that the stat is wrong! Christophe actually got as high as #29 in the world, so dad’s still the “Man in the Family” and “he has some work left to do” to earn the family bragging rights. With a solid performance here in the desert, Edouard may do just that. He’ll face Canada’s Milos Raonic in the 2nd-Round.
Ryan Harrison and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova won their singles matches on Stadium-2 yesterday, while Martina Hingis and Sabine Lisicki thrilled fans versus Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua. Sadly, Sabine and her 14-time Grand Slam Champion Coach lost the match, but they made it a nail-biter – coming back from triple match point to win the second set and force a match tie-break. After the match, Barty and Dellacqua admitted they still have work left to do to return to last year’s form that earned them trips to three Grand Slam Finals.
Michael Russell is a fighter. Down a set to Donald Young, he battled back in the heat to take the next two sets and earn his way into the 2nd-Round here at Indian Wells. It was their 12th meeting (Tour-level, Qualifying and Challenger matches combined) and Michael has owned Doanld over the past two years, winning their last four matches. He’ll face Mikhail Youzhny next, who retired from Dubai last week before his Quarterfinal match with Novak Djokovic. It’ll be interesting to see if the #15 player in the world is at full-strength against Michael’s work-ethic and stamina. After the match, Michael talked about how much he loves the new Stadium-2 at Indian Wells, with three fantastic restaurants overlooking the court. In fact, don’t be surprised to find some of your favorite players dining a few tables over at Nobu, The Chop House or Piero’s Pizza Vino. I spotted Ivo Karlovic heading into Nobu after his 1st-Round win last night…
@StadiumAndy thanks a lot Andy! Cool atmosphere out there
— Michael Russell (@MRusselltennis) March 7, 2014
[divider style=”dashed”]
Stadium-2 Day-4 Results:
- Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) def. Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-4 6-2
- Michael Russell (USA) def. Donald Young (USA) 4-6 6-1 6-2
- Francesca Schiavone (ITA) def. Mona Barthel (GER) 3-6 6-2 6-2
- [7] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) / Casey Dellacqua (AUS) def. [WC] Martina Hingis (SUI) / Sabine Lisicki (GER) 64 67(0) 10-6
- [WC] Ryan Harrison (USA) def. Andrey Golubev (KAZ) 6-4 7-5
- [Q] Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) def. Vania King (USA) 6-0 3-6 6-2
[divider style=”dashed”]
Full results of First Round play on the top half of the men’s draw…
- R Stepanek (CZE) d D Istomin (UZB) 61 36 61
- T Smyczek (USA) d [WC] J Sock (USA) 64 16 64
- S Stakhovsky (UKR) d L Kubot (POL) 64 75
- [WC] R Harrison (USA) d A Golubev (KAZ) 64 75
- E Roger-Vasselin (FRA) d B Becker (GER) 64 62
- A Falla (COL) d F Delbonis (ARG) 63 64
- J Vesely (CZE) d I Sijsling (NED) 36 64 76(1)
- L Rosol (CZE) d [Q] D Lajovic (SRB) 67(2) 75 64
- I Karlovic (CRO) d A Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) 64 64
- S Querrey (USA) d [Q] A Kuznetsov (USA) 63 63
- L Hewitt (AUS) d M Ebden (AUS) 76(2) 36 63
- M Russell (USA) d D Young (USA) 46 61 62
- J Chardy (FRA) d [WC] R Williams (USA) 76(5) 75
- S Giraldo (COL) d D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 63 46 64
- J Monaco (ARG) d [Q] P Polansky (CAN) 64 67(5) 64
- [Q] P Mathieu (FRA) d [Q] R Ginepri (USA) 62 63
>> MEN’S SINGLES DRAW || >> MEN’S DOUBLES DRAW
[divider style=”dashed”]
In ladies First Round play on the top half of the draw…
J Zheng (CHN) d P Ormaechea (ARG) 36 63 76(5)
K Pliskova (CZE) d [Q] M Larcher de Brito (POR) 62 36 62
C Garcia (FRA) d B Mattek-Sands (USA) 63 75
A Wozniak (CAN) d U Radwanska (POL) 62 60
[WC] D Vekic (CRO) d [Q] O Rogowska (AUS) 60 75
M Niculescu (ROU) d M Erakovic (NZL) 62 62
[Q] B Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) d V King (USA) 60 36 62
[WC] C Vandeweghe (USA) d A Cadantu (ROU) 64 60
J Goerges (GER) d J Cepelova (SVK) 61 26 63
[Q] C Giorgi (ITA) d A Petkovic (GER) 67(5) 63 63
[WC] T Townsend (USA) d K Knapp (ITA) 76(1) 61
F Schiavone (ITA) d M Barthel (GER) 36 62 62
E Svitolina (UKR) d M Puig (PUR) 64 75
A Tomljanovic (CRO) d L Dominguez Lino (ESP) 64 76(2)
A Kleybanova (RUS) d [WC] V Duval (USA) 57 64 64
M Torro-Flor (ESP) d G Voskoboeva (KAZ) 61 10 Retired
And in First Round doubles play on the ladies side…
[1] S Hsieh (TPE) / S Peng (CHN) d S Aoyama (JPN) / O Kalashnikova (GEO) 61 62
[2] E Makarova (RUS) / E Vesnina (RUS) d H Chan (TPE) / L Huber (USA) 67(5) 64 10-8
[WC] S Kuznetsova (RUS) / S Stosur (AUS) d [3] S Errani (ITA) / R Vinci (ITA) 63 36 10-6
[5] C Black (ZIM) / S Mirza (IND) d [WC] M Keys (USA) / A Riske (USA) 62 64
[7] A Barty (AUS) / C Dellacqua (AUS) d [WC] M Hingis (SUI) / S Lisicki (GER) 64 67(0) 10-6
A Medina Garrigues (ESP) / Y Shvedova (KAZ) d [PR] K Jans-Ignacik (POL) / I Melzer (CZE) 64 76(8)
K Mladenovic (FRA) / F Pennetta (ITA) d A Kudryavtseva (RUS) / A Rodionova (AUS) 62 64
J Goerges (GER) / A Groenefeld (GER) d [PR] C Chuang (TPE) / C Scheepers (RSA) 64 64
>> WOMEN’S SINGLES DRAW || >> WOMEN’S DOUBLES DRAW
[divider style=”solid”]
Here’s what to expect today, on Day-5 of the BNP Paribas Open 2014: First Round play in the bottom-half of the ATP World Tour draw, 2nd-Round play in the bottom-half of the WTA draw, plus 1st-Round doubles matches from both the fellas and the ladies. In fact, our second match on Stadium-2 features Roger Federer and Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka vs. Rohanna Bopana and Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi. FACT: Roger Federer has been a doubles finalist here at Indian Wells twice: In 2011 with Stan Wawrinka and with Max Mirnyi in 2002.
Another intriguing match, considering Francesca Schiavone’s jubilation yesterday, is match #3 on Stadium-2 featuring Roberta Vinci and Madison Keys. While Madison is hoping for unwavering support from U.S. fans; like Schiavone, fellow Italian Vinci has yet to win her first singles match this year. In fact, she and Sara Errani were defeated in 1st-Round doubles play yesterday – so it’s win-or-go-home for Roberta. It’ll be interesting to see if we have another “Rocky” moment on Stadium-2 after the match…we’ll be ready to cue the pyro. Yo Adrianne.
STADIUM 1 start 11:00 am
WTA – [Q] H Watson (GBR) vs [2] A Radwanska (POL)
ATP – B Klahn (USA) vs M Matosevic (AUS)
ATP – R Bautista Agut (ESP) vs [WC] S Johnson (USA)
WTA – B Jovanovski (SRB) vs [10] C Wozniacki (DEN)
Not Before 7:00 pm
WTA – L Davis (USA) vs [3] V Azarenka (BLR)
Not Before 8:30 pm
ATP – [5] D Marrero (ESP) / F Verdasco (ESP) vs P Andujar (ESP) / V Pospisil (CAN)
STADIUM 2 start 11:00 am
ATP – N Mahut (FRA) vs T Gabashvili (RUS)
ATP – [6] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) vs R Federer (SUI) / S Wawrinka (SUI)
WTA – [13] R Vinci (ITA) vs M Keys (USA)
ATP – F Lopez (ESP) vs D Sela (ISR)
Not Before 5:00 pm
ATP – [Q] D Thiem (AUT) vs [Q] D Kosakowski (USA)
ATP – D Brands (GER) vs J Nieminen (FIN)
STADIUM 3 start 11:00 am
ATP – J Benneteau (FRA) vs [Q] D Munoz-De La Nava (ESP)
WTA – [18] E Bouchard (CAN) vs S Peng (CHN)
ATP – H Zeballos (ARG) vs [WC] R Ram (USA)
ATP – J Marray (GBR) / A Murray (GBR) vs J Monaco (ARG) / G Monfils (FRA)
ATP – R Haase (NED) vs [Q] J Smith (AUS)
ATP – M Przysiezny (POL) vs N Davydenko (RUS)
STADIUM 4 start 11:00 am
WTA – [29] D Hantuchova (SVK) vs V Lepchenko (USA)
ATP – A Gonzalez (COL) vs A Mannarino (FRA)
WTA – [6] S Halep (ROU) vs K Nara (JPN)
WTA – [7] J Jankovic (SRB) vs Y Meusburger (AUT)
STADIUM 5 start 11:00 am
ATP – T Kamke (GER) vs Y Lu (TPE)
WTA – [Q] S Fichman (CAN) vs [9] S Errani (ITA)
WTA – [WC] A Petkovic (GER) / S Stephens (USA) vs V Dushevina (RUS) / M Lucic-Baroni (CRO)
WTA – [PR] A Kleybanova (RUS) / A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs B Mattek-Sands (USA) / N Petrova (RUS)
STADIUM 6 start 11:00 am
WTA – S Soler-Espinosa (ESP) vs [22] A Cornet (FRA)
ATP – V Hanescu (ROU) vs [Q] S Robert (FRA)
WTA – [Q] C Dellacqua (AUS) vs [19] K Flipkens (BEL)
WTA – L Raymond (USA) / S Zhang (CHN) vs R Kops-Jones (USA) / A Spears (USA)
STADIUM 7 start 11:00 am
ATP – O Nedovyesov (KAZ) vs J Sousa (POR)
WTA – Y Wickmayer (BEL) vs [26] L Safarova (CZE)
ATP – [3] I Dodig (CRO) / M Melo (BRA) vs M Mirnyi (BLR) / M Youzhny (RUS)
WTA – [8] L Hradecka (CZE) / J Zheng (CHN) vs V King (USA) / G Voskoboeva (KAZ)
STADIUM 8 start 11:00 am
WTA – [WC] S Rogers (USA) vs [31] M Rybarikova (SVK)
ATP – F Fognini (ITA) / A Seppi (ITA) vs T Huey (PHI) / D Inglot (GBR)
WTA – [30] E Vesnina (RUS) vs A Beck (GER)
ATP – P Carreno Busta (ESP) vs [Q] P Lorenzi (ITA)
STADIUM 9 start 11:00 am
ATP – M Kukushkin (KAZ) vs [Q] S Groth (AUS)
WTA – [14] C Suarez Navarro (ESP) vs K Mladenovic (FRA)
WTA – After Suitable Rest – [PR] J Husarova (SVK) / V Zvonareva (RUS) vs D Hantuchova (SVK) / A Parra Santonja (ESP)
WTA – [24] K Kanepi (EST) vs [Q] Y Shvedova (KAZ)
