On Monday, challenges came from unlikely sources on the men’s side but heat management may have saved Andy Murray and helped Novak Djokovic as the 3 and 4 seeds lived to see another day.
It is safe, even easy, to say that Svetlana Kuznetsova is not a good frontrunner. She is not one of those athletes that relishes in carrying the number one bulls eye seed through an event. Svetlana is comfortable a bit down in the draw, say spots 6 – 10 and picking off higher seeds as they falter, just as unlikely candidates are now doing to her.
Whatever Jalena Jankovic is eating, the former number one Serb should stick with the diet. There’s a little more bounce in her game and oodles of confidence to go along with her resurgent play. The 2010 Indian Wells Champion has brought her new attitude to Miami and the 7 seed is moving smoothly through the field.
Top remaining seed, Princess Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark is doing her best to uphold the integrity of tennis royalty at Indian Wells. It is full time job, which some of the top seeds and former world number ones, now struggling beauty queens, do not understand. The 19-year old has now finished two consecutive tight matches with convincing third set wins.
Number two seed, Dane Caroline Wozniacki, continued her fine play while 4th seeded Elena Dementieva and impressive Aussie Samantha Stosur joined five other winners in the quarterfinals at the BNB Paribas Open. Only Dementieva and Wozniacki remain of the top seeds at Indian Wells.
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.
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.
While the landscape of women’s tennis is changing, the men’s field seems a bit more predictable. Early-line odds makers strongly favor Spanish clay court magician, Rafa Nadal while the current unranked favorite on the women’s side is Belgian Justine Henin. Too bad the odds makers and the ranking committees can’t get together. We might have more balanced events.
They may call it the tennis tournament in the desert, but Indian Wells is a special event featuring the biggest galleries outside of the four major tournaments. With $4.5 million in prize money and loads of live television coverage, players can gain prestige, riches and exposure at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open from March 10th – 21st. What more could an aspiring tour player want?
Elena Dementieva has had to endure the label so many tennis players and golfers dread: the best player never to win a major. Spain’s Sergio Garcia is widely regarded as the male golfer who ought to have won a prestigious championship by now, but hasn’t. In men’s tennis, Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko are battling for that double-edged distinction, which carries with it both a compliment and a deficiency.
