Indian Wells Day 4 review: Federer and Nadal advance, Li wins all-Chinese affair
Ana Ivanovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were all victorious on Day 4 at Indian Wells
On Day 4 of main draw action in the desert landscape of Indian Wells, both the men and the women had second round matches to deal with. Here is a recap of the most significant results:
Women’s singles
The upset of the day was by far, Angelique Kerber’s shock 6-2, 6-7, 4-6 loss to Maria Teressa Torro of Spain. The Spaniard advanced after a hard-fought match and now plays Russian Alisa Kleybanova who defeated another Spaniard – Garbine Muguruza – in emphatic fashion, winning 6-3, 6-2.
American No. 17 seed Sloane Stephens defeated Croat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-0 to set up a clash with Serb No. 11 seed Ana Ivanovic who battled past Elina Svitolina 4-6, 7-5, 7-6.
In a rematch of the 2010 French Open final, Aussie Samantha Stosur exacted revenge, as she powered past a helpless Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-3. The Aussie now plays another Italian in 20th seeded veteran Flavia Pennetta who had to produce her best to shut out exciting American prospect, wild card Taylor Townsend. Pennetta won 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in an exciting three-setter.
Another Italian, qualifier Camila Giorgi, defeated Romanian 25th seed Sorana Cirstea 7-6, 6-3 and now plays defending champion Maria Sharapova who defeated German Julia Georges in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.
Former Wimbledon champion, Czech Petra Kvitova had one of her good days as she beat American wildcard Coco Vandeweghe with ease, 6-1, 6-3, and now plays a former French Open champion in Svetlana Kuznetsova who also progressed easily defeating Czech qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-3, 6-3.
23rd seed Russian Ekaterina Makarova set up a match-up with Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova after beating Romanian Monica Niculescu 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 in a fantastic match. Cibulkova, meanwhile, defeated Croat wildcard Donna Vekic with considerable ease, breezing past 6-3, 6-2.
Canadian Alexandra Wozniak fought past German 15th seed Sabine Lisicki despite playing a lacklustre second set in a 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 win. Wozniak now plays 21st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated Caroline Garcia of France 6-4, 7-5 in a straight set win.
Top seed Li Na of China prevailed in an all-Chinese affair as she beat Zheng Jie 6-1, 7-5. Li now plays Karolina Pliskova, who prevailed in an all-Czech affair with Klara Zakopalova.
Men’s singles
Top seed Rafael Nadal admitted he was a “little bit lucky” after a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Radek Stepanek in which Nadal hit a career-high 8 double faults. He now faces Ukranian Alexandr Dolgopolov whom he beat in the Rio Open finals. Dolgopolov defeated American Tim Smyczek 7-6, 6-4.
Exciting Frenchman Gael Monfils breezed past another Ukrainian in Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-4 to set up a clash with the Italian 13th seed Fabio Fognini who prevailed over Ryan Harrison despite losing the first set, winning 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
One for the future, 10th seeded Canadian Milos Raonic struggled past Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, but showed composure in the end to close out the match. Raonic now faces Colombian Alejandro Falla who sent Pole Jerzy Janowicz packing with an impressive 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win.
Fifth seed Andy Murray overcame Czech Lukas Rosol 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to set up a clash with Jiri Vesely who beat Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 in a see-saw battle.
Third seed and Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-5 in a straightforward victory and now plays Italian Andreas Seppi who beat American Sam Querrey 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Kevin Anderson delayed Llyeton Hewitt’s wait for a 600th career win with a 7-6, 6-4 win over the Aussie. “Kev” now plays Evgeny Donskoy who beat Michael Russel 6-4, 6-3.
German 11th seed Tommy Haas defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6, 7-5 to set up a clash with Japanese 19th seed Kei Nishikori. The Japanese defeated Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-1, 6-3.
Seventh seed Roger Federer struggled while closing before eventually seeing of French qualifier Paul Henri Mathieu 6-2, 7-6 after a nervy second set. Federer now plays Dmitry Tursunov who saw off Argentine Juan Monaco 7-6, 6-4.