Game, Set, Match News
An important victory for Kirsten Flipkens, who was defending quarterfinalist points. Even with the win, she is far from clinching her Top 25 spot.
Carlos Berlocq is another guy who may not have been ready to play. The good news is, he wasn't defending anything; the bad news is, the loss will leave him not much above #60.
A very minor upset, based on the rankings -- but an interesting one, because these two are both very inconsistent players. We had no idea what to expect.
With no seeds in action on the first day of men's play, the biggest news was probably off-court. Juan Martin del Potro's wrist is still acting up, and he was forced to pull out -- nice news for Rafael Nadal, who was drawn to face him in the quarterfinal. The news came late enough that del Potro is being replaced in the draw by Lucky Loser Benjamin Becker; there is no seed promotion.
Top seed and holder Williams will open on Thursday in the second round after a bye against Yaroslava Shvedova, who beat former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-2 in first-round play. Ukrainian Elina Svitolina put out American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
If Serena Williams is going to turn her slightly disappointing 2014 around, now would be a perfect time to start. After Miami, the Tour turns to surfaces where she is ever so slightly less comfortable, plus she is playing right in her own back yard, and she's defending champion, so she has strong reason to want to do well.
This should have been over in straight sets. Flavia Pennetta -- who to that point had been broken only twice -- talked to her coach and served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, and was broken. Two games later, Pennetta was broken again, and a match that appeared to be settled went to a third set. Sloane Stephens stayed strong at the beginning of the third set, going up 3-0.
To view the latest updates from the BNP Paribas Open, click here.
Stanislas Wawrinka has been quoted as saying that Roger Federer is still Switzerland's real #1, and for this week at least, he is. He is also moving -- this takes Federer past Tomas Berdych, putting him back at #6.
Click here to see the men's / women's latest draws & updates from the BNP Paribas Open.
Andy Murray won with a sub-par performance while Roger Federer stayed cool under pressure as both seeds advanced. Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka maintained championship form at his first event in a month, crushing Italian Andreas Seppi 6-0, 6-2.
Click here to see the latest draws and more from the BNP Paribas Open.
This was by no means as easy and straightforward as it looks; it took more than an hour, and if we did this right, Agnieszka Radwanska's first hold of the second set lasted 22 points! Radwanska is assured the #3 ranking; Annika Beck will probably be #43.
Click here to see the latest news and updates from Indian Wells.
Edouard Roger-Vasselin has seen his ranking slide significantly lately, but he wasn't defending anything this week; this will probably let him gain at least a little.
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