The ATP World Tour’s Big-4 remain alive in the Quarterfinals of the 2015 BNP Paribas Open. If all four advance from here, we’re looking at “Djokovic vs. Murray XXV” and “Nadal vs. Federer XXXIV” in the Semifinals. Feliciano Lopez pulled-off a solid upset of World #5 Kei Nishikori on Wednesday, setting up his QF with Andy Murray. Serena Williams continues to roll in her return to Indian Wells – she ended Timea Bascinszky’s 15 match win-streak that includes titles in Acapulco and Monterrey, and two solid Fed Cup wins over Sweden last month. The Australian Open champ will face Simona Halep, who’s won two titles this year in Shenzhen and Dubai. Stadium-2’s Wednesday-schedule featured four Round of 16 matches and two Doubles Quarterfinals:
- [4] A. Murray (GBR) d A. Mannarino (FRA) 63 63
- [9] T. Berdych (CZE) d [27] L. Rosol (CZE) 62 46 64
- [6] M. Raonic (CAN) d [17] T. Robredo (ESP) 63 62
- [32] B. Tomic (AUS) d [WC] T. Kokkinakis (AUS) 64 46 64
- S. Bolelli (ITA) / F. Fognini (ITA) d P. Carreno Busta (ESP) / R. Nadal (ESP) 61 36 10-4
- M. Matkowski (POL) / N. Zimonjic (SRB) d D. Inglot (GBR) / F. Mergea (ROU) 46 63 10-3
From our post match interviews:
Andy Murray started today’s session on Stadium-2 in the heat of the day, battling the sun and an inspired Adrian Mannarino. While he managed a win in two, Andy said the match was much tougher than the scoreline indicated. Adrian is a great example of the talent taking shape inside the top-40 right now, and he was not fun to play against. Andy’s only losses this year have come from Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open Final, Giles Simon in Rotterdam and Borna Coric in Dubai. He’ll have to battle another southpaw in the Quarterfinals. NEXT: Feliciano Lopez
It’s never fun playing a Davis Cup teammate, but it comes with the job. Tomas Berdych took out fellow Czech Lukas Rosol in Wednensday’s second match on Stadium-2. Rosol played well, Berdych stumbled in the second set, struggled with serve most of the match and gave away too many unforced errors. Still, as the most talented tend to do, he found a way to pull it out. That’s how he felt in the post-match interview – not his best performance of the week, but a positive win through perseverence. His Quarterfinal opponent is someone he’s played 18 times before. He’s won six of those matches, most recently in Dubai two years ago. NEXT: Roger Federer
After his straight-sets win over Tommy Robredo, Milos Raonic said his attitude is winning him matches this week in Indian Wells. He has yet to drop a set, with wins over Dolgopolov and Bolelli in the previous rounds. He’s focused, and the serve is punishing. He clocked the fastest serve of tournament on Wednesday at 150-mph…when I shared the news, he simply peered over my shoulder at the stats on the board, took a deep breath, smiled and said: “Hopefully I have a few more of those in me this week.” He’s been all-business these two weeks, focused on living the motto: “Champions have to have the skill and the will, but the will has to be stronger than the skill.” He’ll need that will in the Quarterfinals against an opponent he has yet to defeat in five attempts. NEXT: Rafael Nadal
Bernard Tomic took-out his Davis Cup teammate Thanasi Kokkinakis in the day’s fourth match on Stadium-2. Bernard said his two Davis Cup wins coming into Indian Wells, including his first tie-clinching win, gave him a huge boost of confidence on the court. He had no interest in discussing his upcoming Quarterfinals opponent, he just wanted to enjoy today’s win and see the physio after a grueling three setter. It appeared he was having some back issues at the tail-end of the match. It certainly won’t be fun carrying a back injury into tomorrow’s match, against a player he’s never beaten in three tries. NEXT: Novak Djokovic. Ouch.
Australian Open champions Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini defeated 2-time BNP Paribas Open doubles champion Rafael Nadal and his partner Pablo Carreno Busta in Wednesday night’s first doubles Quarterfinal. It was Fabio’s second win over Rafa in several weeks (he upset Rafa in Rio en route to the Final). NEXT: [2] Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo
Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic were winners as well Wednensday night. They dropped the first set to Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea, but managed a comeback win in the match tie-break. NEXT: Bob and Mike Bryan – OR – Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil
Only one day left in Stadium-2’s run here at the BNP Paribas Open. We have two doubles Semifinals scheduled for tomorrow, starting at 3:00:
- ATP – S. Bolelli (ITA) / F. Fognini (ITA) vs [2] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA)
- WTA – K. Jans-Ignacik (POL) / A. Klepac (SLO) vs [2] E. Makarova (RUS) / E. Vesnina (RUS)
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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. Thursday. Day-9. Order of Play.
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FULL RESULTS: Indian Wells 2015. Wednesday. Day-8.
ATP Singles Round of 16
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) d [18] J. Isner (USA) 64 76(5)
[2] R. Federer (SUI) d J. Sock (USA) 63 62
[3] R. Nadal (ESP) d [13] G. Simon (FRA) 62 64
[4] A. Murray (GBR) d A. Mannarino (FRA) 63 63
[12] F. Lopez (ESP) d [5] K. Nishikori (JPN) 64 76(2)
[6] M. Raonic (CAN) d [17] T. Robredo (ESP) 63 62
[9] T. Berdych (CZE) d [27] L. Rosol (CZE) 62 46 64
[32] B. Tomic (AUS) d [WC] T. Kokkinakis (AUS) 64 46 64
ATP Doubles Quaterfinals
M. Matkowski (POL) / N. Zimonjic (SRB) d D. Inglot (GBR) / F. Mergea (ROU) 46 63 10-3
S. Bolelli (ITA) / F. Fognini (ITA) d P. Carreno Busta (ESP) / R. Nadal (ESP) 61 36 10-4
WTA Singles Quarterfinals
[1] [WC] S. Williams (USA) d [27] T. Bacsinszky (SUI) 75 63
[3] S. Halep (ROU) d [12] C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) 57 61 61
WTA Doubles Quarterfinals
[2] E. Makarova (RUS) / E. Vesnina (RUS) d [7] C. Garcia (FRA) / K. Srebotnik (SLO) 75 64
K. Jans-Ignacik (POL) / A. Klepac (SLO) d S. Lisicki (GER) / A. Petkovic (GER) 76(5) 76(7)
