World No. 1’s Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki lead a world-class field into the US$4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, a combined WTA and ATP Masters series event that begins today.
Instant replay will be available for the first time on all eight competition courts at the desert resort oasis, where Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic and Serbian Jelena Jankovic will defend their crowns.
Women’s main-draw matches begin today, while the men start tomorrow. In each case, top seeds have first-round byes, pushing the debut matches for most of the major stars to the weekend.
Nadal, a nine-time Grand Slam champion who won 2007 and 2009 Indian Wells titles, ended a five-week layoff last week in a first-round Davis Cup tie and seeks another deep run after losing to Ljubicic in last year’s semi-finals.
Nadal could join US legends Jimmy Connors and Michael Chang and Swiss world No. 2 Roger Federer as a three-time winner at Indian Wells.
Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam singles champion, comes in off a loss to third-ranked Novak Djokovic in the Dubai final and a week of workouts to prepare himself for the challenge of the US hardcourts.
Federer is 29-7 lifetime at Indian Wells and is the only player to win the event three times in a row, his title run coming from 2004 through 2006.
Djokovic, the 2008 Indian Wells champion, is on a 12-match win streak after capturing the Australian Open and Dubai titles.
The Serbian star would replace Federer as world No. 2 headed into the Miami Masters event later this month if he wins the Indian Wells title, reaches a final not against Federer or reaches the semi-finals with Federer ousted before the quarter-finals.
Sweden’s Robin Soderling has won three titles this season and risen to fourth in the rankings, just ahead of Scotsman Andy Murray, who reached the Australian Open final, but comes to Indian Wells still in search of his first Grand Slam crown.
Wozniacki, who lost to Jankovic in last year’s Indian Wells women’s final, won six titles last year and another crown last month at Dubai after losing in the Australian Open semi--finals, keeping the great Dane without a Slam crown.
Second-ranked Kim Clijsters, the 2003 and 2005 Indian Wells champion, is coming off a victory over China’s Li Na in the Australian Open final, the Belgian taking her third Grand Slam title since a 2009 return from a break to start a family.
Russian Vera Zvonareva, the world No. 3 who won at Indian Wells in 2009, is joined among the favorites by fourth-ranked Australian Samantha Stosur, fifth-ranked Italian Francesca Schiavone, sixth-ranked Jankovic and seventh-ranked Li, the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam final.
“Australia is over. Now I have to start all over again,” Li said, mindful of first-match exits last year at Miami and Indian Wells.
Other top players in the fields include past Indian Wells winners Maria Sharapova of Russia and Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set