Tennis News

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – No.3 seed Karolina Pliskova showed signs of improvement after her tough opening round win, easing past No.29 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-4, 7-6(2) to reach the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open for a third straight year.

“There were some ups and downs,” she said after the match. “I had 13 break points or however many in the first set, which took an hour, so it was quite difficult. I was feeling comfortable on serve, even though my first serve wasn’t great. I was up 3-1 in the second and took a little bit of a timeout and played a terrible few games.

“She improved and started swinging more aggressively. I was getting pushed back but I still believed, and started stepping into the court at the end. It could have been a third set there.”

Pliskova flirted with defeat against Monica Puig on Friday, falling behind a set and trailing 0-3 in the decider, but faced far fewer problems against Begu, who’d won their only previous encounter back in 2011.

“There’s some pressure for everyone; what I’ve experienced is that there’s a little more pressure on me now that I’m such a high seed. Everyone is expecting good tennis and good results from high seeds, so it’s always surprising if you lose first or second round. That’s been different.”

Amazing touch on the stretch from @KaPliskova! ? #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/ro9fEwXRFv

— WTA (@WTA) March 13, 2017

Far improved from those early days on tour, the US Open runner-up struck 21 winners over the course of two sets and maintained a +3 differential for the match – hitting just four unforced errors in the first set alone.

“During the year, there’s two tournaments where I feel like I’m really playing well. The rest, I feel more in the middle, where I’m not playing bad, but I can still win matches not playing great. One match will be bad, the next will be better, so I’m trying to find a balance where I’m playing solid. This match was definitely better than the last round, but I still can play better.”

.@KaPliskova finds the corner with the backhand! #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/lAipPNvuLy

— WTA (@WTA) March 13, 2017

Begu enjoyed a career-best season in 2016, getting up to World No.22 after reaching the second week of the French Open and winning her third career title in Florianopolis. The Romanian got out to a 5-3 lead in the second, and later held a pair of set points on her serve to force a deciding set.

Unwilling to go the distance for a second straight match, Pliskova dug in her heels to level the set and dominate the eunsuing tie-break, booking her spot in the round of 16 after little more than two hours on the court.

“Mentally, I was up at that point; I knew she had it in her head that she’d had two set points. I just wanted to play more aggressively because so was she; the first one stepping into the court won the point, so it ended up going my way.”

.@KaPliskova advances to @BNPParibasOpen Round of 16 with 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Begu! pic.twitter.com/wRns2M8mhU

— WTA (@WTA) March 13, 2017

Up next for the Czech powerhouse is No.15 seed Timea Bacsinszky, who won a topsy-turvy three-setter against No.18 seed Kiki Bertens, saving four match points after missing out on three of her own to win the affair, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(8).

“That’ll be another tough one. I beat her in Fed Cup but I’ve lost to her before. She had a tough match today, but there’ll be a day off, and I think she’ll be ready. She always plays well here, has a good game for this surface with the spin on her forehand. I’ll have to be ready for the backhand.

“I don’t want to be in the position where she’s dictating, so I’ll have to play faster. There’s a few players like this, and I have to be ready for them with my legs, closing the ball at the net, and being aggressive.”

The normally gregarious Swiss veteran was speechless when first asked how she came out victorious.

3 hours, 22 minutes!@TimeaOfficial saves FOUR match points to beat Bertens 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(8)! #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/ssSLWyrTyu

— WTA (@WTA) March 12, 2017

“Next question,” she joked to WTA Insider. “Is there a hospital nearby? To be more serious, when you’re at 6-6 in the third after a rollercoaster match, you know it can go either way. There’s no right tactics, things to do, thinking you have to hit aces or take more risks. It’s all about feeling what’s coming, when, how, trying to gauge what your opponent is thinking.

“We have a lot of time to think 25 seconds in between points, not to mention the decisions we make in seconds between shots!”

Eight quarterfinal spots are on the line on Tuesday at the BNP Paribas Open and we’re previewing each sweet sixteen matchup right here at wtaennis.com.

Tuesday

Round of 16

[2] Angelique Kerber (GER # 2) vs. [14] Elena Vesnina (RUS #15)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 3-1
Key Stat: Kerber will begin her 21^st week at No.1 on the Monday after Indian Wells.

Angelique Kerber had her back against the wall on Monday as she fell behind in-form Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier 4-1 in the deciding set. Was Kerber going to fall prey to the upset bug again? No way. The German mounted an inspiring rally to head off Parmentier at the pass, clinching a satisfying 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 victory. What made the difference for Kerber? “I was starting to believe in myself again and trying to taking this challenge and trying to playing point by point and not thinking what has happened before,” she told reporters. “Just going for it and trying to move in good, bring a lot of balls back, and going for it when I have the chance.” It was enough to get by Parmentier, but Kerber will need to be even better when she faces Russia’s Elena Vesnina for a spot in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Will she be up for the challenge? “I’m still in the tournament,” she said. “That’s what counts.”

Pick: Kerber in three

[28] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #26) vs. Lauren Davis (USA #38)
Head-to-head: Mladenovic leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Mladenovic is 4-1 in three-set matches thus far in 2017.

Is promising Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic ready to take her game to the next level in 2017? It’s starting to look that way. The 23-year-old knocked off No.4-seeded Simona Halep with a gritty display on Tuesday, saving 19 of 22 break points faced to improve to 3-1 lifetime against the Romanian. Mladenovic improves to 2-0 with the victory and 14-5 on the season. But she’ll have to be careful with her next opponent, because American Lauren Davis is playing some of the best tennis of her career. She’s 13-3 with a title in Auckland, and will certainly try to pull Mladenovic into another physical match. Will Mladenovic be up to the task or will it be the American who emerges as a surprise quarterfinalist?

Pick: Mladenovic in three

[12] Venus Williams (USA #13) vs. [Q] Peng Shuai (CHN #49)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Williams reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier at Indian Wells twenty years ago in 1997. It was her second main draw appearance here.

Another big event and another big surprise from 36-year-old Venus Williams. The American legend never ceases to amaze and wherever she goes there are legions of fans who are there to support her, just as they were two decades ago. She had the home crowd behind her today as she raced past Lucie Safarova, and she’ll have them with her on Tuesday when she faces qualifier Peng Shuai. Williams has won two of three against Shuai, but it was the Chinese, an inspirational figure herself, who came out on top when they met in Beijing last fall.

Pick: Williams in three

[9] Madison Keys (USA #9) vs. [13] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #14)
Head-to-head: Wozniacki leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Keys is bidding for her first BNP Paribas Open quarterfinal.

She missed the first two months of the season to rehab from off-season wrist surgery, but for those who watched Madison Keys power through her first two matches at the BNP Paribas Open, it was hard to detect any lingering rust. Keys was in fab form on Monday when she sailed past Naomi Osaka on the strength of eight aces and four break points saved out of four. On Tuesday she’ll come up against a much sterner test in Caroline Wozniacki. The three-time finalist and 2011 BNP Paribas Open champion walloped Katerina Siniakova in straight sets to improve to 29-9 lifetime at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Pick: Wozniacki in three

[3] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #3) vs. [15] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #17)
Head-to-head: Bacsinszky leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Pliskova improved to 17-2 on the season with her third-round win over Irina-Camelia Begu.

Timea Bacsinszky is playing with house money after saving five match points to slip by Kiki Bertens in a three-hour and 22-minute marathon on Sunday. “She played her heart out,” Bacsinszky said after outlasting Bertens to book her third consecutive trip to the BNP Paribas Open’s round of 16. “I did too.” Next up for the talented, unconventional Swiss will be another supreme power player, Karolina Pliskova. The World No.3 edged Irina-Camelia Begu to keep her run of fine form alive at Indian Wells and she will bid to reach the quarterfinals for the second straight year. Contrasting styles will square off in a match that will depend on how well Pliskova can execute first strikes—and how cleverly Bacsinszky can combat them.

Pick: Pliskova in three

[10] Elina Svitolina (UKR #10) vs. [7] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #7)
Head-to-head: Tied, 2-2
Key Stat: Svitolina has won 15 consecutive matches in a career-best streak that has seen her win two titles.

Elina Svitolina has been unstoppable since the Australian Open, winning titles in Tapei and Dubai, and she doesn’t appear to have lost a step here in the desert. The Ukrainian has reached the round of 16 at Indian Wells for the second time in three years, but awaiting her is a formidable foe that has her eyes on the prize. Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza  has dropped two straight matches to Svitolina and she’d like nothing more than to turn the tide in their rivalry by notching a critical win on Tuesday. That said, the Spaniard knows she’ll be facing a player that becomes more dangerous with each passing season. “I think she’s playing very good,” Muguruza said. “She’s going to be a very tough opponent. She just got to the Top 10 as well. That’s a sign. It’s going to be difficult.”

Pick: Muguruza in three