Vesnina ousts Kerber at Indian Wells
INDIAN WELLS, United States: Angelique Kerber won’t celebrate her return to world number one with an Indian Wells title after a shock fourth-round exit on Tuesday at the hands of Elena Vesnina. Russia’s 14th-seeded Vesnina toppled the second-seeded German 6-3, 6-3 to book a quarterfinal clash with seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams. Williams battled back from a break down in the final set to beat Chinese qualifier Peng Shuai 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. “(I) wasn’t really sure how it was going to turn out today,” Wi l l i a ms s a i d . “Th e r e were some up-anddowns a n d errors. It was so frustrating. But I feel like I got my focus more in that second set and towards the end of the third, because I’m just a competitor. So if things get closer, then I think my better tennis is going to come.”
Vesnina, the 14th seed, notched her first career victory over a top-three player. Kerber was the top-ranked player in the draw, and will return to number one in the world on Monday despite the defeat thanks to Serena Williams’ injury withdrawal from the event.
NOT KERBER’S DAY Vesnina went up a quick break and never trailed. She broke Kerber five times, and managed to stifle a would-be rally that saw the German close the gap from 4-1 to 4-3 in the second set. “I was a little nervous at the end of the match,” Vesnina said. “So I’m really happy that I closed that match because this win means a lot to me.”
Kerber, winner of the Australian and US Opens last year, had struggled past 62ndranked Pauline Parmentier in the previous round and said she never found her rhythm against Vesnina.
“It was not my day,” she said. “I was doing a lot of mistakes. I was not moving, actually, good. But it’s happened. I mean, she played from the beginning until the end good tennis, and she was aggressive. So she took the game in her hands.”
Eighth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova sped
past Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-4 to lead the way into the quarters.
Kuznetsova is in the last eight in the California desert for the first time since reaching back-to-back finals in 2007 and 2008.
“I just fell in love with the game again,” said Kuznetsova, who next faces compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who toppled fifthseeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Pavlyuchenkova belted 35 winners as she kept the normally aggressive Cibulkova in check, avenging a three-set loss to the Slovak in Doha. “I always like to get revenges,” Pavlyuchenkova said.
Third-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova booked her quarterfinal berth with an abbreviated appearance under the hot desert sun. She was leading Timea Bacsinszky 5-1 when the Swiss player retired with a left wrist injury. Pliskova next faces seventh-seeded French Open champion Garbine Muguruza. I NDIAN WELL : Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal powered to third-round wins at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Tuesday to set up a mouth-watering rematch of their recent Australian Open final. Fifth seed Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-5, while ninth seed Federer served impeccably to get past American Stevie Johnson 7-6(3), 7-6(4) and book the 36th showdown of their famous rivalry. The last time they met, Switzerland’s Federer claimed a record 18th grand slam title in a rousing 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over Nadal in Melbourne in January. Federer, 35, lost only five points on his first serve in his double tie-breaker win over Johnson in a match completed without a service break. Fourteen-time Grand Slam winner Nadal, 30, was comfortable as usual in the California desert, dismissing compatriot Verdasco to keep his Round of 16 date with the Swiss maestro. It was the 50th win at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden for Nadal, who has lifted the trophy three times, in 2007 (over Novak Djokovic), 2009 (Andy Murray) and 2013 (Juan Martin del Potro). “History says that this tournament works well for me,” Nadal, who holds a 23-12 winning record over Federer, told reporters. Federer has also enjoyed his time at Indian Wells, winning four times with the last triumph coming in 2012. Three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic also had reason to celebrate as the second seed ran off the last five games to overcome bighitting Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in a bottom half of the draw stacked full of top players. “It was definitely difficult to overcome this challenge tonight,” Djokovic said. “The third set was probably the best tennis that I played this year and I’m just glad I was able to pick up my game.” The victory gave Djokovic a chance for revenge as he next meets young Australian Nick Kyrgios, who defeated the Serb at this month’s Mexican Open on his way to the semifinals.
Kyrgios prevailed 6-3 6-4 over Alexander Zverev in an entertaining first tour-level meeting between the young guns. A controlled Kyrgios put on a masterful display, mixing strong serving with an array of showman shots to beat Germany’s 19-year-old Zverev, a friend from their junior tennis days. “I thought I just competed well,” Kyrgios, 21, said. “He’s got a big game. I was happy with my performance.” Fourth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan also cruised into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-2 rout of Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. Muller, who won his first ATP World Tour title in Sydney at the start of the year, made only 49 per cent of his first serves and Nishikori broke him four times. Nishikori next faces American Donald Young, who needed seven match points to complete a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over 14thseeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille. American Jack Sock joined the Round of 16 by knocking out Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, edging a third-set tie-breaker to advance 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7).