World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is enamored with the new surfaces at Indian Wells, the Belarusian saying on Tuesday that the faster courts would play into her powerful game, while Carlos Alcaraz said he did not understand the reason for the change.
Indian Wells, which has long been known for its gritty, slow hard courts, has been resurfaced this year by Laykold, the company that also provides surfaces for the Miami Open and the US Open, to make playing conditions more consistent.
“I love them [the courts]. They’re a little bit faster, which is good for me, right?” Sabalenka told reporters.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It feels good so far. I’ll tell you later after my first match. I hope I’ll still like it,” she added with a smile.
Another big server, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, said she had not noticed a huge change when she practiced on them.
“I feel that it’s not much faster, but I will say maybe the bounce [is] a little bit lower,” said Rybakina, the 2023 champion. “The past few days were very windy and a lot of sun came, so it’s also a bit different, the bounce, but I think the court’s still nice.”
Although the fast courts are supposed to help bigger servers, they could spell trouble for players such as two-time defending champion Alcaraz, who relies more on his creative shot-making than sheer power.
The Spaniard arrived in the southern California desert late on Monday and said he had not had a chance to try out the courts.
“Honestly, it’s a change that I didn’t understand when I saw it. It was 25 years, the tournament, it was the same court, and then right now has changed. I don’t know the reason why they did it,” he said.
“I have to practise on it,” he added. “I consider myself a player who adapts very well my game on the surfaces and all the conditions that you’re playing on.”
Russian Daniil Medvedev, a self-described hard-court specialist who called the Indian Wells courts “a disgrace” two years ago, was unimpressed after practicing on them.
“It’s okay, I like Indian Wells, I even like the courts now, but they seem to be almost slower than before, very slow,” he said.
First-round action was to start yesterday.
In the men’s singles qualifiers, Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin on Monday lost 6-2, 6-1 against Giulio Zeppieri of Italy.
Three Taiwanese are to play in the round-of-32 of the women’s doubles tomorrow.
Hsieh Su-wei and China’s Zhang Shuai face Japanese pair Eri Hozumi and Shuko Aoyama; Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China are to play Chinese pair Yang Zhaoxuan and Xu Yifan; and Chan Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia take on Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Miyu Kato of Japan.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
RSS