Stan shows the moves
Indian Wells, March 14: Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka continued his dominance of Philipp Kohlschreiber, rolling past the German 7-5, 6-3 on Monday to reach the fourth round of the ATP Indian Wells Masters.
Wawrinka recorded his fifth victory over Kohlschreiber in as many meetings in a performance that left him cautiously encouraged about his prospects of making it past the quarter-finals in the California desert for the first time.
A break in each set was enough for Wawrinka, who didn’t face a break point himself as he advanced to a meeting with lucky loser Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, who staged a remarkable rally to get past 13th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
The 21-year-old from Mie saved a match point against his own serve in the 10th game of the second set.
Eighth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, World No.9, powered into the fourth round with a 6-1, 64 victory over Germany’s Mischa Zverev.
Thiem next faces 10thseeded Gael Monfils, who dispatched American John Isner 6-2, 6-4 in just 68 minutes.
Elsewhere, Pospisil was unable to build on the best win of his career falling to fellow qualifier Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (7/4), 36, 7-5 just two days after toppling Murray. Kerber stays on course Angelique Kerber might yet celebrate her return to number one with an Indian Wells title after battling past Pauline Parmentier 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the fourth round on Monday.
Parmentier, the world No. 62 from France, had the two-time Grand Slam champion from Germany on the ropes with a break and a 4-1 lead in the third set.
But Kerber fought back with a break in the seventh game and another in a marathon 11th game that gave her a 6-5 lead and a chance to serve for the match.
Kerber, who rose to number one in the world with her US Open triumph last year, is set to regain the summit no matter how far she goes this week thanks to the injury withdrawal of Serena Williams.
Kerber next faces Russian Elena Vesnina, a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 winner over Hungarian Timea Babos.
Fourth-seeded Romanian Simona Halep, yet to regain peak form in the wake of a nagging knee injury, was dispatched by in-form Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-3.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams booked a fourth-round berth with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Lucie Safarova.
The American next faces China’s Peng Shuai, who ousted sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-4.
American Madison Keys, playing her first event of the year after surgery on her left wrist, eased past Japan’s Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-4.