Game, Set, Match News
Alexandra Cadantu won't move above her current #59, but Coco Vandeweghe looks as if she just might have a shot at a Top Hundred return -- especially since she faces Petra Kvitova next, and if nothing else there is the chance that Kvitova will get sick again...
Still no significant wins for Vera Zvonareva in her comeback (she did beat one wildcard ranked #357). At least she gets the showing-up points, which will help a little; she should go from #634 to around #580.
Click here to view the BNP Paribas Open results & order of play.
Is there some rule that says Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer can never be sound at the same time? Nadal, after a long bout of back problems, is back to defend his title at Indian Wells, but Ferrer -- who lost his opener last year -- will be unable to play; he is the top player missing.
Click here to view the draws, order of play, and more from the BNP Paribas Open.
If Dominika Cibulkova has a favorite animal, it has to be the chameleon. When she first came up, her speed made her a clay player. Then she turned into an indoor hardcourt player. This year, she's an outdoor hardcourt player, with the Australian Open final on her record and now this.
Grigor Dimitrov had had a very late semifinal the night before (all matches at this event take place late; you'd think it was a cartel hiding from public scrutiny). He admitted he didn't feel too good after that, and when asked how he managed to come back from a break down in the third set of this three hour match, he declared, "Belief is the only thing that kept me going today...
Just as in the semifinal against Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer started stronger than the scoreline. He and Tomas Berdych were almost even in the first set, but Berdych won it, and went up by a break in the second -- and then Federer started amping up the pressure.
In the first set of this, Roger Federer kept threatening Novak Djokovic and not quite getting the break. Things didn't look good. But he really does seem to be rediscovering his confidence. Or something...
This time, Tomas Berdych had his first serve working; he put sixty-odd percent of his first deliveries in the court. As a result, he was never broken. He's still only #7 in safe points, but he's in the soft half of the draw.
Roger Federer went down an early break in the second set of this, finally got it back, but lost the tiebreak, and it meant that he had to spend more than two hours on the court. It doesn't seem a very good recipe for success.
Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova fulfilled her top seeding after a few rough showings since Melbourne, with the Slovak beating Poland Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.
Former grand slam finalist Marcos Baghdatis beat Miguel Angel Reyes of 6-2 6-4, American Donald Young put out Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-3 and Rio finalist Alexandr Dolgopolov started with a defeat of eighth seed Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-2.
Roger Federer began with a 6-1, 6-4 first-round rout of Benjamin Becker which took just 62 minutes. The fourth seed won his 38th match at the emirate where he maintains a training base...
Rafael Nadal had not looked very good the night before; his explanation seemed to boil down to the fact that he was struggling with the uncomfortable conditions. But it was thoroughly uncomfortable on Sunday as well -- high heat and very high humidity.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
