Insider Notebook: Top Half Blockbusters

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

– Top half of the draw holds up: Seeds may have fallen early but the projected quarterfinals held up in the top half. No.1 Serena Williams cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kateryna Bondarenko, while No.5 and defending champion Simona Halep advanced via a retirement from an ill Barbora Strycova, who pulled the plug down 6-3, 1-0. The two will face off for the first time since the 2015 Western & Southern Open final, which Serena won 6-3, 7-6(5). It will be the first real test for both women, as they’ve cruised through the early rounds without dropping a set.

“I really like her game,” Serena said. “I like how she’s aggressive. She’s a fighter. She killed me at one point, so I definitely have to be ready. It’ll be a really good match I think for both of us to kind of see where we want to be at this point in the year.”

“I’m happy that I am again in the quarterfinals,” Halep said. On Wednesday she’ll be playing her biggest quarterfinal since the US Open. Finally healthy after an injury and illness addled start to the season, Halep has found some of her best tennis in a long time here in the desert.

“I feel good here. I started to feel my game. I started to feel very well on court. I move well. It’s the most important thing. Of course the matches, it’s important to win a match, but it’s better to feel that you are like strong on court and then to think about winning a match.”

The day’s other quarterfinal sees No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska and No.8 seed Petra Kvitova face off for the first time since the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global final last fall, which Radwanska won, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. A win on Wednesday would move Radwanska up to No.2 in the rankings.

“I just remember it was very, very tough match,” Radwanska said when asked to recall that Singapore match. “Long, tight, everything was tighter, every game, point by point. A little bit different surface, different conditions, definitely.

“I think always against her you really have to play good tennis and be careful definitely on her serve. She’s really using her left hand very good for that. Well, but I just hope we can play on the same level as we played in Singapore.”

Radwanska was able to move past Jelena Jankovic in straight sets to advance but Kvitova found herself once again mired in a long, grueling three set match, beating Nicole Gibbs, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was the third consecutive three-set match she played this week. After skipping the tournament last year, Kvitova joked she was just trying to give fans more bang for their buck. She’s had an off day after each of her matches but will have less than 24 hours to recover for Wednesday’s quarterfinal.

“The last match we played in Singapore was different conditions, definitely, playing indoor compared here,” Kvitova said. “Weather should be very warm and outdoor. Aga is playing really good game. I just probably will need, you know, playing really good way, tactically well, playing aggressively, going for it.

“We’ll see. Like I [have to] catch a lot of balls and playing really smart. I have to be ready.”

– Victoria Azarenka the heavy favorite to make the final: In the more unpredictable bottom half of the draw, the 2012 champion held off Sam Stosur, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, to advance to her third quarterfinal of the season. Azarenka is now 14-1 on the season, with that sole loss coming to Angelique Kerber at the Australian Open. A title run here would put her back in the Top 10 for the first time since August 2014, moving up as high as No.7.

Azarenka faces surprise quarterfinalist No.97 Magdalena Rybarikova, who advanced after Roberta Vinci retired with a left foot injury. Coming into Indian Wells, Rybarikova had not won back-to-back main draw matches since the Istanbul Cup last July. This week she’s beaten Laura Robson, Daria Gavrilova, Belinda Bencic, and now Vinci to make the quarterfinals. Azarenka is 2-0 against Rybarikova and has never dropped a set to her.

The last quarterfinal features two of the best young talents on tour, with 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina continuing to build on her blistering 2016 season against No.18 seed Karolina Pliskova. The two have never faced each other.

Playing in her Indian Wells debut, Kasatkina rolled past No.12 seed Timea Bacsinszky, 6-4, 6-2. Kasatkina broke down the Bacsinszky game with a healthy diet of heavy forehands to the Swiss’ forehand, breaking down the weaker wing time and time again. It was a smart, tactical match from the young Russian and the best match of her tournament so far.

Kasatkina on that jumping backhand: “From 12 I started playing like this. All the Russians, Safin, Kuznetsova play this shot! I like it.”

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 16, 2016

– Azarenka goes strength to strength: Azarenka has continued to build on her already stellar return game. She says her forehand return in particular has improved immensely and she’s now able to generate more pace and angle from that side. She’s also seeing her hard work in February pay off on the match court this week.

“I started to be more efficient on my movement, which is big part of my game, to be able to find angles, cut angles, and just overall placement of the ball,” Azarenka said. “I worked a lot on my serve to be able to create easier serving games and going for my shots, developing power speed, and now need to work a little bit more on accuracy.”

– Top 10 rankings watch: Radwanska can overtake Angelique Kerber and can climb to No.2 in if she is able to reach the semifinals…. Garbiñe Muguruza will maintain her current ranking at No.4…. Halep will fall between No.5 and No.7…. Vinci will reach a career-high ranking after Indian Wells…. Azarenka can return to the WTA Top 10 on Monday if she wins the title at Indian Wells (No.7).

– More rankings news: Konta will move into the Top 25 on Monday, the first Brit in the Top 25 since Jo Durie in 1987…. Jelena Jankovic will fall out of the Top 20 on Monday…. Kasatkina will make her Top 40 debut and overtake Margarita Gasparyan as the Russian No.5 and can even overtake the No.4, Ekaterina Makarova, if she makes the final.

– Chapeau, Gibbsy: Nicole Gibbs’ fantastic week finally came to an end against Kvitova but she’ll move up into the Top 80 on Monday and snag a new career-high ranking. Chin up.