Bookmaker favorites Kim Clijsters and 3rd seeded Victoria Azarenka fell prey to the incredible upset trend that has prevailed throughout the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. For Clijsters, the loss to Russian Alisa Kleybanova ended a fifteen match winning streak at the desert venue and was a stunning blow to her career comeback. Combined with her humiliating loss to Nadia Petrova (6-0, 6-1) in Melbourne, it is clear that Clijsters has to re-focus a bit.
Two Russian beauty queens bit the dust on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open. Former Indian Wells Champion and world number one, Maria Sharapova, continues to struggle with her comeback effort. The 22-year old battled China’s up and coming upset queen Zheng Jie for three hours only to come up short in the 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 third round match. Sharapova broke Zheng twice in the final set but was unable to improve her inconsistent serve as Zheng broke back each time.
For a while on Sunday, it looked like Romanian Victor Hanescu looked a party-spoiler for Roger Federer. The 28-year old Swiss star was awarded the ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favorite Player of the Year Award after his second round match in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Federer also received the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for 2009.
The upsets and near upsets just keep coming at Indian Wells. And, the fans are liking the highly competitive play. More than 23,300 fans turned out Saturday, setting a new single day record at the BNP Paribas Open. Heavy favorites are taking their hits and struggling to stay alive in the hotly contested early rounds.
Svetlana Kuznetsova seems to have trouble in the limelight. Last year, Kuznetsova claimed her second Grand Slam in Paris and played so well that she jumped to number two in the world rankings. The notoriety has not served her well.
The Cinderella Dream is on hold, at least for another two weeks. Melanie Oudin, who hoped a return to big galleries and American soil would lead her to a repeat of her performance at last year’s U.S. Open became a first round casualty at Indian Wells. Oudin did not have the fuel to stay with Italian upstart Roberta Vinci, who fought back for the 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 triumph.
The 2010 Paribas Open in Indian Wells California is ready to go with many of the game’s top stars competing for more than $3.6 million in prize money. Women’s play begins today, March10th. Svetlana Kuznetsova is the top seed. Dane Caroline Wozniacki pulls seed number 2 followed by fast-rising Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva.
Novak Djokovic is making a habit out of losing the opening set against Roger Federer. For most people, that would be a problem, but for the 21-year-old Serb with ample reserves of self-belief, it’s only a reason to fight even harder. For the second time in the past month, Djokovic felled Federer in a Masters [...]
Even as she spent the past three months climbing the ladder in the world of women’s tennis, Victoria Azarenka lacked a really big achievement to show for her excellence. Now, another milestone can be crossed off the Belorussian’s checklist. A promising 2009 season just got better for Azarenka, who showed steely nerves to hold off [...]
The last time Andy Murray stared across the net at Fernando Verdasco, dreams of a first Grand Slam title melted away in the Australian Open heat. Just over two months later, a quietly determined Scotsman ensured that a frustrating loss wouldn’t happen again. Murray–victimized by Verdasco in the fourth round at the year’s first major [...]
