Doubles QF Highlights In Indian Wells 2016
Doubles QF Highlights In Indian Wells 2016
Mar172016
Ex-world number one Victoria Azarenka and rising American star Madison Keys have confirmed they will play at this year’s Aegon Open Nottingham in June.
The week-long WTA event is being held in Nottingham for the second successive year and finishes just 15 days before Wimbledon begins on 27 June.
Two-time Australian Open winner Azarenka said: “I’ve heard great things about what great preparation it was.
“It’s so important to get time on this surface ahead of Wimbledon.”
Azarenka, 26, is currently ranked 15 in the world and has twice reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon, while 21-year-old world number 24 Keys is a former quarter-finalist at the All England Club.
The Nottingham Open will see two tournaments take place in June, with the women’s tournament from 4-12 June and the men’s ATP event being staged from 18-25.
Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Nenad Zimonjic made a miraculous comeback against Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 4-6, 6-1, 14-12 in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday. The No. 8 seeds were down 2-9 in the Match Tie-break, but saved seven match points in a row (eight total) before securing victory in 75 minutes.
“We tried to focus on each point, down 2-9,” Roger-Vasselin said. “Of course, we didn’t believe we could win, but this is the beauty of the sport. We kept trying every point and we got through. Amazing feeling.”
“It’s our first tournament together,” Zimonjic added. “There is no better test than playing against the Bryans. They are unbelievable frontrunners. We played a great second set, and this [Match Tie-break] was just a miracle, the way we pulled it out.”
The winners will face Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the semi-finals.
“Three Frenchmen on the court, we all know each other quite well,” Roger-Vasselin said. “It’ll be a good fight. It’ll be my first time on Stadium 1 so I’ll look forward to that.”
Herbert/Mahut won an All-French confrontation to advance to the final four, downing Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 6-1, 7-5.
Rafael Nadal reached the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals in Indian Wells after winning the last five games to beat Alexander Zverev 6-7 6-0 7-5.
Nadal faced a match point but the German missed an easy volley – later admitting: “On match point I sucked.”
Three-time champion Nadal plays Japan’s Kei Nishikori next and could face Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
Serena Williams beat defending champion Simona Halep 6-4 6-3 to reach the last four in the women’s draw.
The world number one now plays Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Petra Kvitova 6-2 7-6 and will reclaim the world number two ranking when the new list is released on Monday.
Earlier, Djokovic beat Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-3 to set up a quarter-final with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.
In the doubles, Jamie Murray will rise to the top of the world rankings if he wins his quarter-final later on Thursday. Murray and partner Bruno Soares face Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez from 22:00 GMT.
The four-time Indian Wells champion makes quick work of the Spaniard
Novak Djokovic avenged the only blemish on his 2016 record on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open. And he did it quickly. In one hour and five minutes, the Serb bypassed Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-3 to move into the quarter-finals.
Djokovic, the defending Indian Wells champion, was precise in the desert. The World No. 1 won only four points on Lopez’s serve during the first set, but they all came at once – when Djokovic earned a break.
Last month in Dubai, Djokovic retired against Lopez after losing the first set because of an eye infection. The four-time Indian Wells champion is now 19-1 on the year.
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On Tuesday, Rafael Nadal called Sascha Zverev “a future No. 1.” But a day later, the Spaniard showed that in the present, he still rules.
No. 4 seed Nadal saved a match point in overcoming the 18-year-old German 6-7(8), 6-0, 7-5 in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday, winning the final 15 points. The three-time Indian Wells champion (2007, 2009 and 2013) still has a chance to reach his 100th tour-level final (67-32).
“A great victory, as I said before. I’m very happy about it,” Nadal said. “I am especially happy about the mentality on court, the spirit of fight during the whole match, believing that I can win a match during the whole time even in the tougher situations.”
Zverev had a chance to become the youngest man to make the Indian Wells quarter-finals since Michael Chang and Andre Agassi in 1989. Serving at 5-4 in the deciding set, he was a point away from notching his biggest career win. But on match point, Zverev missed a forehand volley.
“I missed probably the easiest shot I had the whole match,” he said.
The miscue took a heavy toll on Zverev, who seemed to lose his spark after letting slip the opportunity to claim his first Top 10 victory.
“It was a great match. Rafa did what he does best; he was fighting. He’s known for that,” Zverev said. “I still had chances to win. I had an easy shot at match point and I missed it. I’m out and he’s in the quarter-finals.”
Persistent Goffin through to the quarter-finals
David Goffin finally broke through at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday, but not before Stan Wawrinka almost walked away with a fourth-round win.
At 5-5 in the third-set tie-break, Wawrinka raced to the net for an easy putaway that would have given him match point. But the No. 3 seed slammed the ball feet behind the baseline to oohs from the crowd.
The error gave Goffin his first match point. And the Belgian, unlike in the second set and earlier in the third, when he failed to serve out the match, converted to win 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(5).
Goffin will now face Croat Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals. Cilic overcame France’s Richard Gasquet 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.
Both Cilic and Goffin snapped losing streaks with their wins.
Goffin became the first Belgian to reach an Indian Wells quarter-final. He also broke a 14-match losing streak against Top 10 opponents. The 25-year-old is now 2-25 against opponents ranked in the Top 10 Emirates ATP Rankings.
Cilic snapped an 11-match losing streak against Top 10 opponents that dated back to his 2014 US Open title run. In the next round, he’ll be looking to end another streak: Cilic is 0-7 lifetime in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-finals.