Djokovic gunning for glory
Indian Wells, March 10: Five-time champion Novak Djokovic will be out to reassert his dominance on the hard courts of Indian Wells this week, seeking to shake off the slump that has dogged him into 2017.
Djokovic’s five titles in the California desert include the last three.
But the Serbian star arrives at a tournament he has owned shaken by a secondround exit at the Australian Open, which was followed by a shocking quarter-final loss to young Australian Nick Kyrgios in Acapulco. The setbacks come on the back of a troublesome second half of 2016, when he lost his world number one ranking to Andy Murray and relinquished his Wimbledon and US Open titles. “Right now I feel like it was better than it was, especially in the second part of last season,” Djokovic said Thursday as unseeded men swung into action in the first ATP Masters tournament of the year. Djokovic, who lifted the trophy in Doha this year before his Australian Open defeat, insisted the latest setbacks haven’t discouraged him. But he’s got a monumental task in Indian Wells, where he anchors a bottom quarter that also includes fourtime champion Roger Federer, and three-time winner Rafael Nadal. Murray heads the draw that gives all 32 seeded players a first-round bye. Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil defeated Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-3 to earn a clash with Murray, while France’s Jeremy Chardy beat Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 to book a meeting with eighth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem. Beck bounces out Bouchard Former world number five Eugenie Bouchard’s 2017 struggles continued Thursday at Indian Wells, where she fell in the first round to Germany’s Annika Beck.
Beck made the most of Bouchard’s errors to dispatch the Canadian 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Andrea Petkovic booked an all-German clash with second-seeded Angelique Kerber, and she’s hoping some inside knowledge will help her get past her friend.
She enjoyed a first-round bye while Petkovic was leading Vania King 6-0, 2-0 when the American retired from their first-round match Thursday with a left ankle injury.
Elsewhere, Croatia’s Donna Vekic made the most of her wild card with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) victory over American Alison Riske, setting up a meeting with Romanian Simona Halep. Former world number one Jelena Jankovic held on for a 6-2, 36, 6-3 victory over US wild card Irina Falconi.