Former No. 1s Fall Monday; Serena vs. Sloane on Tuesday at Indian Wells
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Two former No. 1s were shocked by up-and-comers on Monday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells as Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic were shown the door in third round play.
The No. 5-seeded Ivanovic fell 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to 21-year-old No. 25 seed Caroline Garcia, while the No. 4-seeded Wozniacki was straight-setted by No. 31 Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-4.
Bencic lost 6-0, 6-0 to Wozniacki in their previous meeting.
“I was really happy after the first game I won, obviously, but I think I played more solid today,” said the Swiss teen, who will next meet another former No. 1 in Jelena Jankovic. “In Istanbul I had maybe too much respect and I was afraid, nervous. Today I really had a good game plan. I did what I had to do out there.”
Also upset minded were Ukraine qualifier Lesia Tsurenko outlasting No. 20 Alize Cornet 7-5, 1-6, 6-2; the No. 18 Jankovic trailing virtually the entire match before topping an unraveling No. 16 Madison Keys 5-7, 6-4, 6-3; and No. 24 Sabine Lisicki overpowering No. 11 Sara Errani 6-4, 6-2.
World No. 2 Maria Sharapova in a night match showed she is not ready to relinquish her position to another former No. 1, defeating No. 32-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3.
“I actually didn’t feel like I played my best tennis,” said Sharapova, who will next face the defending champion Flavia Pennetta. “But I was competitive. I was there. I feel like I did everything I had to do in order to win the match, which is sometimes the most important thing.”
Other winners were No. 6 Eugenie Bouchard dismissing No. 30 CoCo Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-4, and the No. 15 Pennetta downing No. 21 Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2.
On the men’s side, Top 10-ranked winners fought through some tough matches on Monday as No. 1 Novak Djokovic stared down Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-5, 6-3; No. 4 Andy Murray won a see-saw match over No. 26 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 3-6, 6-1; and No. 5 Kei Nishikori came from a set down to beat No. 28 Fernando “Mild Sauce” Verdasco 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4.
“It wasn’t as good as the first round, that’s for sure, but a win is a win,” said Djokovic, who dropped serve twice with a -14 winners to unforced errors ratio. He will next meet American John Isner. “I did struggle a lot, had some unforced errors. I definitely need to work tomorrow on the balance and hopefully in the next one there will be fewer mistakes.”
In lower-seeded play No. 12 Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez outlasted No. 20 Pablo Cuevas 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; and the No. 18 Isner out-served No. 16 Kevin Anderson 7-6(6), 6-2.
Isner has struggled in 2015 with a 3-5 record entering Indian Wells, but says the conditions are right for some major upsets.
“I can’t ask for better conditions to go up against someone like [Djokovic],” said Isner, who had 18 aces to Anderson’s 11. “These conditions suit me very well. That being said, every condition suits him well. He does everything the best, that’s why he’s No. 1 in the world. There is no surface he’s a slouch on. But I think a court like this, and maybe hopefully the crowd on my side, can certainly help me a lot.”
On the upset tip, France’s Adrian Mannarino ousted No. 14 Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-4; No. 32 Bernard Tomic surprisingly out-grinded No. 8 David Ferrer 7-5, 6-4; and 18-year-old wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis edged veteran Juan Monaco 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5).
Mannarino dropped Gulbis to 1-6 on the season, and is rewarded with a Murray meeting.
“I have never practiced with him or played against him, but I know about his game,” Murray said of Mannarino. “I feel like I have an idea of what his strengths are, but obviously the way he plays against other players will be different maybe to how he plays against me.”
Tuesday’s Indian Wells slate:
STADIUM 1 start 11:00 am
ATP – S. Johnson (USA) vs [9] T. Berdych (CZE)
Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA – [1] [WC] S. Williams (USA) vs S. Stephens (USA)
ATP – D. Young (USA) vs [3] R. Nadal (ESP)
WTA – [15] F. Pennetta (ITA) vs [2] M. Sharapova (RUS)
Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP – [30] A. Seppi (ITA) vs [2] R. Federer (SUI)
Not Before 8:30 pm
WTA – [25] C. Garcia (FRA) vs [24] S. Lisicki (GER)
STADIUM 2 start 11:00 am
WTA – [12] C. Suarez Navarro (ESP) vs H. Watson (GBR)
ATP – [15] R. Bautista Agut (ESP) vs J. Sock (USA)
ATP – [6] M. Raonic (CAN) vs A. Dolgopolov (UKR)
ATP – [17] T. Robredo (ESP) vs [11] G. Dimitrov (BUL)
WTA – [6] E. Bouchard (CAN) vs [Q] L. Tsurenko (UKR)
STADIUM 3 start 11:00 am
ATP – R. Haase (NED) vs [27] L. Rosol (CZE)
ATP – [13] G. Simon (FRA) vs [Q] M. Berrer (GER)
WTA – [3] S. Halep (ROU) vs [14] K. Pliskova (CZE)
WTA – [23] E. Svitolina (UKR) vs [27] T. Bacsinszky (SUI)
WTA – [18] J. Jankovic (SRB) vs [31] B. Bencic (SUI)
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