Andy Murray is out. This was Indian Wells number-11 for the 2-time Grand Slam champion; and for the 4th-time, he flamed-out before the Round of 16. After the loss to World #53 Federico Delbonis of Argentina, Andy said that he still simply hasn’t figured out the tricky conditions here in the desert. He should give himself more credit. He reached the Final here in 2009, and has been a Semifinalist on two other occasions. The ever-changing, distractingly gusty conditions this week are extreme on these slower hard-courts…a clay-courter’s dream. On to Miami.
Monday also bid farewell to Ana Ivanovic, World #8 Belinda Bencic, Genie Bouchard, and Bernard Tomic – who retired with a wrist injury.
The match of the day happened on Stadium-3, where Daria Kasatkina of Russia defeated Monica Puig in a grueling three-setter: 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2). Daria’s had an amazing five-weeks. After her Semifinal run in St. Petersburg, she teamed with Elena Vesnina in Doha to take-out Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza – ending Santina’s 41-match win-streak. Today, she’s into Round of 16 in her Indian Wells debut, where she’ll face Timea Bacsinszky on Tuesday.
Here on Stadium-2, we saw upsets, comebacks, a retirement…plus, we were gifted with an additional nightcap, as matches ran long on Stadium-1. Magdalena Rybarikova, Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet, Sam Stosur, Gael Monfils, and Stan Wawrinka all strolled off this court with tickets to the Round of 16…
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MAGDELENA RYBARIKOVA. Round-3.
On paper, the World #8 Belinda Bencic should have walked all over World #97 Magdalena Rybarikova. But this is the WTA in 2016. Nothing is what it seems. After reaching the Final in St. Petersburg, Bencic lost her opening matches in Dubai and Doha. Here at Indian Wells, she needed 3-sets to take-out Lauren Davis in her opener…but that was the end of the road.
In Monday’s first set, at 3-all, Belinda handed a break to Rybarikova, double faulting on game-point. Magdalena then delivered the first set with an ace, 6-4. In the second, Bencic forced a decider by breaking early and serving it out. In the third, Bencic did it again – double faulting on break point to fall behind. Though Belinda fought back, Rybarikova won the last two games of the set, and the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
That’s a nice top-10 win for Rybarikova…who most likely took to the practice courts after the win to work on her overheads. Check out her two epic misses from the match below…
NEXT: Roberta Vinci
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MILOS RAONIC. Round-3.
Bernard Tomic’s been carrying around a wrist injury for awhile. Facing Milos Raonic, it wasn’t worth it to even continue. After dropping the first set 2-6, Bernard retired from the match down 0-2 in the second. In that short time, Milos accumulated 9-aces with a top serve-speed of 143-mph. He looks healthy and determined, excited to back on tour after the abductor tear.
Milos spent more time on court later in the day with doubles partner John Isner. The hard-serving duo fell to Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez.
NEXT: Tomas Berdych
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RICHARD GASQUET. Round-3.
The desert loves The Dog…ever since he upset Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic to reach the Semifinals two years ago. While Alexandr Dolgopolov captured a quick first set, winning the final five games, Richard Gasquet wasn’t done. Richard would dominate the rest of the way, delivering five breaks to take the match: 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Gasquet just won his 13th career title in Montpellier, but oddly enough, has never won a title on this side of the ocean. He’s into the Round of 16 here at Indian Wells for the 5th time, on the hunt for his second Quarterfinal appearance.
NEXT: Marin Cilic
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SAM STOSUR. Round-3.
Down 0-3 in the third, Sam Stosur sat-down during the change-over wondering what the hell had just happened. Sure, the match had its inconsistencies, unforced errors and double-faults, but she was still whacking forehands with force. She told herself to take it one game at a time and use her experience to assert her will the rest of the way. It worked. Christina McHale began to doubt and Stosur rattled off four straight games. Up a break, the 2011 US Open Champ served it out, winning the match 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. With a very familiar opponent next, she’ll need to limit the unforced errors to reach the Quarterfinals. Bam Bam Sam is just 1-8 versus Vika, though they haven’t played in 3-years.
NEXT: Victoria Azarenka
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GAEL MONFILS. Round-3.
Gael Monfils put on another show for fans in Stadium-2 on Monday night. With huge-vert leaping overheads – Gael pounded serves and won hard-hitting baseline battles with Albert Ramos-Vinolas, earning the first set in just 31-minutes. In just over an hour, the match was his – 6-1, 6-3. For once, it appears the Frenchman might enjoy some good fortune here at Indian Wells…Andy Murray is out. Federico Delbonis is next. In his 8th trip to Indian Wells, Gael has reached the Round of 16 for the first time – and will face the World #53 rather than the World #2. That is opportunity defined.
NEXT: Federico Delbonis
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STAN WAWRINNKA. Round-3.
Aside from a double-fault on break-point in the second, Stan Wawrinka fired-off a tidy, efficient win over Andrey Kuznetsov Monday night here on Stadium-2. The two traded holds through 5-4, when Stan rifled winning returns with ease to take the set. After falling behind with that double fault in the second, Wawrinka broke back as Kuznetsov served for the set – then completed the win in the tie-break 6-4, 7-6(5).
NEXT: David Goffin
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RESULTS. BNP Paribas Open 2016. Day Eight. Round-3 WTA Singles.
- M. Rybarikova (SVK) d [7] B. Bencic (SUI) 64 36 63
- [9] R. Vinci (ITA) d [17] E. Svitolina (UKR) 61 63
- [12] T. Bacsinszky (SUI) d E. Bouchard (CAN) 62 57 62
- [13] V. Azarenka (BLR) d [WC] S. Zhang (CHN) 64 63
- [18] Ka. Pliskova (CZE) d [14] A. Ivanovic (SRB) 62 60
- [25] J. Konta (GBR) d D. Allertova (CZE) 64 61
- [26] S. Stosur (AUS) d C. Mchale (USA) 64 26 64
- D. Kasatkina (RUS) d M. Puig (PUR) 64 36 76(2)
RESULTS. BNP Paribas Open 2016. Day Eight. Round-3 ATP Singles.
- F. Delbonis (ARG) d [2] A. Murray (GBR) 64 46 76(3)
- [3] S. Wawrinka (SUI) d A. Kuznetsov (RUS) 64 76(5)
- [6] T. Berdych (CZE) d B. Coric (CRO) 61 76(3)
- [8] R. Gasquet (FRA) d [26] A. Dolgopolov (UKR) 26 62 61
- [10] M. Cilic (CRO) d L. Mayer (ARG) 64 63
- [12] M. Raonic (CAN) d [17] B. Tomic (AUS) 62 30 Retired
- [13] G. Monfils (FRA) d A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 61 63
- [15] D. Goffin (BEL) d G. Pella (ARG) 46 63 62
RESULTS. BNP Paribas Open 2016. Day Eight. Round-2 WTA Doubles.
- B. Mattek-Sands / C. Vandeweghe d [2] H. Chan / Y. Chan 76(3) 63
- [3] T. Babos / Y. Shvedova d Y. Xu / S. Zheng 64 75
- [4] A. Hlavackova / L. Hradecka d M. Gasparyan / M. Niculescu 75 62
- S. Errani / O. Kalashnikova d [Alt] K. Bondarenko / O. Savchuk 76(5) 57 10-8
RESULTS. BNP Paribas Open 2016. Day Eight. Round-2 ATP Doubles.
- [3] B. Bryan / M. Bryan d R. Bautista Agut / V. Troicki 62 62
- [6] V. Pospisil / J. Sock d T. Bellucci / G. Pella 63 67(6) 10-5
- P. Kohlschreiber / D. Thiem d L. Kubot / M. Matkowski 62 46 10-5
- F. Lopez / M. Lopez d J. Isner / M. Raonic 64 75
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BNP Paribas Open 2016 – Tuesday Order of Play
BNP Paribas Open 2016 – Updated WTA Singles Draw
BNP Paribas Open 2016 – Updated ATP Singles Draw
BNP Paribas Open 2016 – Updated WTA Doubles Draw
BNP Paribas Open 2016 – Updated ATP Doubles Draw
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