Truth be told, aside from Juan Monaco’s win over US Open Champ Marin Cilic, there weren’t many stand-out stories from Day-4 at Indian Wells. Not a single seed fell on the WTA side; and while Saturday’s win was a nice top-10 victory for Pico, we have to remember that Marin’s been out with a shoulder injury and hasn’t played all year. The David Ferrer third-set tie-break win over Ivan Dodig was dramatic, but expected…as was the Zimonjic/Matkowski 11-9 match tie-break win over Federer/Lammar inside a packed house at Stadium-2.
Perhaps the real-story of the day was the number of matches moved to our court. It was impressive. Most contests on Stadium-2 lasted a little over an hour. So, after Isner dissected Melzer in 68-minutes, the match migrations began. We brought in the Mirza/Hingis second-round match…they easily dispatched Pavlyuchenkova/Kudryavtseva. About 15-minutes after I closed the session and wished everyone a great night, tournament organizers gifted us with a seventh: Vandeweghe vs. Karatantcheva. Coco delivered that win in just over an hour…moments before her next opponent Genie Bouchard advanced on Stadium Court. The timing was perfect, creating traffic hell in the parking lots, as all of the matches ended at the same time.
The seven Saturday winners from Stadium-2:
- [26] P. Kohlschreiber (GER) d [WC] T. Smyczek (USA) 63 61
- J. Monaco (ARG) d [10] M. Cilic (CRO) 64 64
- [16] M. Keys (USA) d K. Koukalova (CZE) 63 62
- M. Matkowski (POL) / N. Zimonjic (SRB) d [WC] R. Federer (SUI) / M. Lammer (SUI) 63 36 11-9
- [18] J. Isner (USA) d [Q] J. Melzer (AUT) 63 64
- [1] M. Hingis (SUI) / S. Mirza (IND) d A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) / A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 63 62
- [30] C. Vandeweghe (USA) d [Q] S. Karatantcheva (BUL) 62 63
From our post match interviews:
Philipp Kohlschreiber admits he has not been playing his best tennis this year with early exits in Doha, Sydney, the Australian Open and Rotterdam. Oddly enough, aside from his win over Simon in Davis Cup last weekend, the only guy Philipp has beaten this year is Paul-Henri Mathieu…in the first rounds of both Melbourne and Montpellier. After his win over American Tim Smyczek on Saturday, Kohlschreiber told me he’s re-tooled and made adjustments for Indian Wells and likes the way his game is taking shape. In his 10th year here, Saturday was his first match on the new Stadium-2. Philipp said he felt completely comfortable, though…because he’s been scouting the court from the Prime Chop House nightly. NEXT: Andy Murray.
Juan Monaco took down US Open Champion Marin Cilic in Stadium-2’s second match, and afterwards, Pico said he probably played his best match of the year. It’s his first top-10 win of 2015 and he told me it simply comes down to confidence. The transition from South American clay prior to Indian Wells? – Not an issue if you’re confident. A top-10 opponent? – Not an issue at all…if you’re confident. Needless to say, he’s feeling…confident…now that he’s opened-up his draw by taking down the initial seed in his way. NEXT: Thanasi Kokkinakis.
After her semifinal appearance at the Australian Open, Madison Keys has picked up right where she left off…and looks to be truly enjoying playing just up the road from John Leach and Lindsay Davenport’s backyard. After the match, we discussed her Super Bowl bet with Ryan Harrison, which explains why she was practicing in HIS clothing earlier this week. We all breathed a sigh of relief after learning that – had SHE won, he would’ve had to work-out in her clothes. Madison is into the 3rd round here at Indian Wells for the first time. NEXT: Jelena Jankovic.
Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic have 69 doubles titles between them. Roger Federer just won his 84th career singles title in Dubai, and is partnering with fellow Swiss Michael Lammer here in the desert. Nenad and Marcin were on pace to crush their opponents, earning the first-set 6-3. Roger and Michael would come from behind to take the second and force a match tie-break…where they fell behind early again. In the end, the doubles specialists pulled-off the win 13-11, and the fellas took the time to thank the packed house in Stadium-2 for showing up specifically to watch them. Sarcasm…I recognize that. NEXT: Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
John Isner needed just 68-minutes to take-down an Austrian who has given him trouble in the past (He is 1-3 against Melzer). Last year, Jurgen Melzer beat John on clay in Rome. Here at Indian Wells, Melzer had already played two qualies and a first-round match. John took advantage of Jurgen’s fatigue, then kept us laughing after the win. When asked about his coaching partnership with Justin Gimelstob, John ackowledged that Justin is most likely the tour’s best-dressed coach…not the best looking, but the best-dressed. He went on to sincerely champion the efforts and strides they’re making together, even if those strides aren’t yet noticeable with his results. As far as his next opponent, Kevin Anderson – John spent some time reflecting on how he used to kick Kevin’s ass on a regular basis in college, and looks forward to the match-up. Since 2012, John has owned Kevin, beating him 7 out of 10 times.
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza continue to attract big crowds here at Indian Wells, regardless of who’s playing on Stadium Court. On Saturday, their match with Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Alla Kudryavtseva was moved to Stadium-2 shortly after Novak Djokovic took center court…and at least a thousand fans migrated to see the doubles greats perform. Sania acknowledged after the match that Indian Wells is definitely one of those few tournaments on tour where fans show appreciation and support the doubles game. With their win, the “Dream Team” is now into the Indian Wells Quarterfinals. NEXT: Daniella Hantuchova and Karin Knapp.
Coco Vandeweghe is very famailiar with Sesil Karatantcheva and knows she’s a threat. Karatantcheva got the best of Coco during their previous match, so it was nice to see Coco only allow 5-games against the Bulgarian. After her win, Vandeweghe talked about the boost in confidence she’s felt after felling Stosur in Melbourne and earning her first Fed Cup win down in Argentina. In fact, make no bones about it, one of her dreams is to represent the United States in the Olympics and she’s ready to climb the rankings and knock-out those in the way of making her dream a reality. Coco’s been playing here since she was 15-years-old (she wants me to remind you that she’s only 23). Her confidence and comfort-level on these courts will undoubtedly be dangerous for all-comers moving forward. NEXT: Genie Bouchard. A winnable match for the American if she plays like she did today.
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ATP. Indian Wells 2015. Updated Singles Draw.
ATP. Indian Wells 2015. Updated Doubles Draw.
WTA. Indian Wells 2015. Updated Singles Draw.
WTA. Indian Wells 2015. Updated Doubles Draw.
Indian Wells. Sunday. Day-5. Order of Play.
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FULL RESULTS: Indian Wells 2015. Saturday. Day-4.
ATP Singles Second Round
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) d M. Baghdatis (CYP) 61 63
[4] A. Murray (GBR) d V. Pospisil (CAN) 61 63
[5] K. Nishikori (JPN) d [WC] R. Harrison (USA) 64 64
[8] D. Ferrer (ESP) d I. Dodig (CRO) 46 61 76(6)
J. Monaco (ARG) d [10] M. Cilic (CRO) 64 64
[12] F. Lopez (ESP) d [Q] E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 67(3) 64 64
[14] E. Gulbis (LAT) d [LL] D. Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 64 61
[16] K. Anderson (RSA) d F. Delbonis (ARG) 75 64
[18] J. Isner (USA) d [Q] J. Melzer (AUT) 63 64
A. Mannarino (FRA) d [19] F. Fognini (ITA) 76(8) 63
[20] P. Cuevas (URU) d J. Nieminen (FIN) 46 75 60
[WC] T. Kokkinakis (AUS) d [23] G. Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 75 57 63
A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) d [25] J. Benneteau (FRA) 62 63
[26] P. Kohlschreiber (GER) d [WC] T. Smyczek (USA) 63 61
[28] F. Verdasco (ESP) d [Q] J. Duckworth (AUS) 62 76(3)
[32] B. Tomic (AUS) d [Q] B. Coric (CRO) 63 64
ATP Doubles First Round
J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) d [5] A. Peya (AUT) / B. Soares (BRA) 62 36 10-8
[6] M. Granollers (ESP) / M. Lopez (ESP) d A. Mannarino (FRA) / G. Simon (FRA) 62 61
[7] R. Bopanna (IND) / D. Nestor (CAN) d J. Chardy (FRA) / R. Gasquet (FRA) 76(5) 64
M. Matkowski (POL) / N. Zimonjic (SRB) d [WC] R. Federer (SUI) / M. Lammer (SUI) 63 36 11-9
D. Inglot (GBR) / F. Mergea (ROU) d T. Robredo (ESP) / V. Troicki (SRB) 63 62
WTA Singles Second Round
[2] M. Sharapova (RUS) d Y. Wickmayer (BEL) 61 75
[4] C. Wozniacki (DEN) d [Q] O. Jabeur (TUN) 76(3) 64
[5] A. Ivanovic (SRB) d [Q] Y. Putintseva (KAZ) 63 61
[6] E. Bouchard (CAN) d [Q] L. Hradecka (CZE) 62 62
[Q] L. Tsurenko (UKR) d [9] A. Petkovic (GER) 63 46 64
[11] S. Errani (ITA) d [Q] L. Zhu (CHN) 60 46 62
[15] F. Pennetta (ITA) d M. Brengle (USA) 64 62
[16] M. Keys (USA) d K. Koukalova (CZE) 63 62
[18] J. Jankovic (SRB) d L. Davis (USA) 67(5) 60 64
[20] A. Cornet (FRA) d C. Mchale (USA) 46 62 61
[21] S. Stosur (AUS) d [WC] T. Townsend (USA) 64 62
[24] S. Lisicki (GER) d R. Vinci (ITA) 61 57 64
[25] C. Garcia (FRA) d [Q] P. Hercog (SLO) 64 67(5) 64
[30] C. Vandeweghe (USA) d [Q] S. Karatantcheva (BUL) 62 63
[31] B. Bencic (SUI) d B. Jovanovski (SRB) 62 76(2)
[32] V. Azarenka (BLR) d K. Flipkens (BEL) 62 64
WTA DOubles Second Round
[1] M. Hingis (SUI) / S. Mirza (IND) d A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) / A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 63 62
[2] E. Makarova (RUS) / E. Vesnina (RUS) d M. Krajicek (NED) / B. Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 63 64
[WC] D. Hantuchova (SVK) / K. Knapp (ITA) d [5] G. Muguruza (ESP) / C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) 63 76(0)
