The middle Saturday at Indian Wells finished up 2nd-Round play from the WTA and introduced the seeds from the ATP World Tour to the mix. Round-2 from the top of the draw will continue with the guys on Sunday, while the ladies will fire-up Round-3.
Without question, Saturday’s match of the day was a 1st-round doubles street-fight on Stadium-2 featuring Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco vs. Bob and Mike Bryan. Someway…somehow…Bob and Mike managed to come back from a set-down and win 10-8 in the match tie-break. In swirling, cool conditions, the brothers were simply outplayed for most of the match, but Bob and Mike proved why they’re the winningest team in tennis history with 109 career titles. It’s never over ’til you hear: “Game. Set. Match.” (FULL MATCH RECAP BELOW).
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Surprise! Nick Kyrgios stirred-up controversy at Indian Wells on Saturday. Wildly distracted, he fell to Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(4), 7-5. At 2-all in the second, the chair-umpire docked Nick a point for dropping the F-bomb on court. Pissed, Nick actually took a seat in the audience for a minute, then got even more annoyed when he found out a linesperson had reported it. Meanwhile, Nick’s latest sparring-partner Bernard Tomic won his match over Rajeev Ram 6-4, 7-5 – and refused to answer any questions about Nick in press. Smart.
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Juan Martin del Potro‘s 2016 run at Indian Wells is done. Tomas Berdych defeated the 2013 finalist 7-6(4), 6-2. After the match, Delpo said he was just happy to make it a close first-set. Still ranked outside the top-400; in his return to the game, he knows it’ll take time and patience to get back in top form…
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CONSISTENT INCONSISTENCY = “Results on the WTA Tour” this year. When Australian Open Champion and World #2 Angelique Kerber fell to Saisai Zheng in Doha (For a recap of that loss, click here), it was somewhat shocking. On Saturday at Indian Wells, she lost her opening match to World #64 Denisa Allertova…and it barely raised an eyebrow. (From ESPN: Angelique Kerber and the weight of expectation)
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World #4 Garbine Muguruza also went down on Saturday, falling to Christina McHale from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Christina’s a top-5 killer at Indian Wells. Four years ago, she took out Petra Kvitova in the third round. (FULL MATCH RECAP BELOW)
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Complete bummer for Carla Suarez Navarro who had to withdraw from the tournament just hours before her match on Saturday with an ankle injury. Carla came into Indian Wells on a high, after capturing her first career Premier-5 title in Doha. Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam stepped-in as the lucky loser, and fell in two to Daria Kasatkina.
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Here in Stadium-2, Saturday featured wins from Milos Raonic, a blistered Gael Monfils, Christina McHale, Marin Cilic, and the Bryan Brothers – who played to a packed house against Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco. Oh…and we caught Mike Tyson on the KISS CAM.
MILOS ROANIC. Round-2.
Abductor tear? Not an issue. Milos Raonic is having no problems pushing-off with his right leg. The Australian Open Semifinalist comes into Indian Wells with a rested, loaded cannon – and he’s unleashing the artillery. He took-out Inigo Cervantes on Saturday 6-1, 6-3. After the match, he talked about how frustrating it was to be away from tennis over the past six-weeks, and how nice it is to make his return at a tournament that sees so many Canadian fans.
NEXT UP: Bernard Tomic.
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GAEL MONFILS. Round-2.
Indian Wells adores Gael Monfils. Fans desperately want to see the showman on Stadium-1 deep into the second week – it’d be huge for the tournament. The reality is, in seven trips here, Gael has never made it past the 3rd-Round – and he has no idea why. He adores this place – it’s a paradise – he just simply hasn’t been able to piece together his best tennis at Indian Wells. The World #16 is determined to change that this year…though Saturday presented a scare of sorts…
In control after taking the first-set with an ace, Gael developed a blister on the sweet-spot of his right palm. Pablo Carreno Busta broke twice – just before and right after Gael received treatment. Once Monfils got used to the discomfort, he fired-off three aces to force a second-set tie-break, and then comfortably delivered the win 7-5, 7-6(1).
NEXT UP: Albert Ramos-Vinolas
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CHRISTINA McHALE. Round-2.
Christina McHale is no stranger to the upset. She took-out a World #1 Caroline Wozniacki a few years back in Cincinnati. Four years ago, she upset Petra Kvitova here at Indian Wells. On Saturday, she scored her third career top-5 win by ousting Garbine Muguruza in straight-sets 7-5, 6-1. Both her defense and serve were on-point, and she’ll need those weapons against the highly tactical Sam Stosur in Round-3.
NEXT UP: Sam Stosur
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MARIN CILIC. Round-2.
Christina McHale’s soon-to-be brother-in-law, Ryan Harrison, didn’t have any answers for Marin Cilic on Saturday. Two weeks ago, Ryan defeated Cilic in Acapulco 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. On Saturday, Marin owned the World #168 6-4, 6-3. Like Monfils, Cilic has never been deep into week-2 here in the Desert, but he’s looking forward to making a run at with a win over Mayer come Monday. Marin’s best result was a Round of 16 appearance two years ago when he fell to Novak Djokovic…that same year, he’d go-on to win the US Open, with wins over Berdych, Federer and Nishikori.
NEXT UP: Leonardo Mayer
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HOLY CRAP. BOB AND MIKE BRYAN. Round-1.
Electric atmosphere. Exhilarating match. Incredible fans partying in a packed house. Top-notch tennis set the tone Saturday night, and Stadium-2 fans were on the edge of their seats. Nadal and Verdasco came out and immediately punched Bob and Mike in the mouth, breaking Bob in game-1. The Spaniards would control the entire first set 6-3, and most of the second. It honestly felt like the 2-time champs would go-down in two…but then Verdasco double-faulted twice at 5-all. The Bryans scored the break and Mike held-serve to force the match tie-break. Back and forth, the MTB was excruciatingly fantastic; but then at 8-all, Nadal double faulted giving Bob his window to earn the win. Bob and Mike Bryan – with 109 career titles – stole this one from Nadal and Verdasco 3-6, 7-5 [10-8].
NEXT UP: Roberto Bautista-Agut and Viktor Troicki
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RESULTS. BNP Paribas Open 2016. Day Six. Round-2 WTA Singles.
- D. Allertova (CZE) d [2] A. Kerber (GER) 75 75
- C. Mchale (USA) d [4] G. Muguruza (ESP) 75 61
- [7] B. Bencic (SUI) d [WC] L. Davis (USA) 63 36 63
- [9] R. Vinci (ITA) d M. Gasparyan (RUS) 63 67(7) 76(5)
- [12] T. Bacsinszky (SUI) d T. Pironkova (BUL) 62 61
- [13] V. Azarenka (BLR) d Z. Diyas (KAZ) 63 62
- [14] A. Ivanovic (SRB) d C. Giorgi (ITA) 26 62 76(5)
- [17] E. Svitolina (UKR) d A. Beck (GER) 46 76(0) 61
- [18] Ka. Pliskova (CZE) d [WC] S. Rogers (USA) 62 64
- [WC] S. Zhang (CHN) d [20] C. Wozniacki (DEN) 46 76(8) 75
- E. Bouchard (CAN) d [21] S. Stephens (USA) 75 75
- [25] J. Konta (GBR) d M. Brengle (USA) 64 60
- [26] S. Stosur (AUS) d Y. Wickmayer (BEL) 26 64 76(6)
- M. Puig (PUR) d [28] A. Schmiedlova (SVK) 61 62
- M. Rybarikova (SVK) d [31] D. Gavrilova (AUS) 26 75 64
- D. Kasatkina (RUS) d [LL] A. Friedsam (GER) 75 63
RESULTS. BNP Paribas Open 2016. Day Six. Round-2 ATP Singles.
- [2] A. Murray (GBR) d M. Granollers (ESP) 64 76(3)
- [3] S. Wawrinka (SUI) d I. Marchenko (UKR) 63 62
- [6] T. Berdych (CZE) d [WC] J. Del Potro (ARG) 76(4) 62
- [8] R. Gasquet (FRA) d N. Mahut (FRA) 64 61
- [10] M. Cilic (CRO) d [Q] R. Harrison (USA) 64 63
- [12] M. Raonic (CAN) d I. Cervantes (ESP) 61 63
- [13] G. Monfils (FRA) d P. Carreno Busta (ESP) 75 76(1)
- [15] D. Goffin (BEL) d [WC] F. Tiafoe (USA) 36 63 76(2)
- [17] B. Tomic (AUS) d R. Ram (USA) 64 75
- L. Mayer (ARG) d [20] V. Troicki (SRB) 75 63
- G. Pella (ARG) d [22] P. Cuevas (URU) 61 46 64
- A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) d [24] N. Kyrgios (AUS) 76(4) 75
- [26] A. Dolgopolov (UKR) d R. Haase (NED) 64 62
- A. Kuznetsov (RUS) d [28] J. Chardy (FRA) 64 62
- B. Coric (CRO) d [29] T. Bellucci (BRA) 62 62
- F. Delbonis (ARG) d [32] J. Sousa (POR) 76(6) 64
RESULTS. BNP Paribas Open 2016. Day Six. Round-2 WTA Doubles.
- [8] R. Atawo / A. Spears d [WC] D. Allertova / P. Kvitova 63 62
- A. Klepac / K. Srebotnik d K. Bertens / J. Larsson 57 75 10-6
RESULTS. BNP Paribas Open 2016. Day Six. Round-2 ATP Doubles
- [3] B. Bryan / M. Bryan d R. Nadal / F. Verdasco 36 75 10-8
- [4] J. Murray / B. Soares d T. Huey / M. Klizan 64 67(5) 11-9
- F. Lopez / M. Lopez d [5] R. Bopanna / F. Mergea 26 64 10-4
- [6] V. Pospisil / J. Sock d A. Qureshi / G. Simon 60 75
- [7] P. Herbert / N. Mahut d G. Dimitrov / M. Mirnyi 76(5) 62
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BNP Paribas Open 2016 – Sunday Order of Play
BNP Paribas Open 2016 – Updated WTA Singles Draw
BNP Paribas Open 2016 – Updated ATP Singles Draw
