Right ok so a quick update from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in California, which is the first Premier Mandatory/1000 Masters series title of the year on the men's and ladies tour. This post will quickly cover some of the quarter final matches and I will update it a bit later as I go, so let's start.
OK this is mainly the ladies matches, starting with Petra Kvitova who took on Maria Kirilenko for a place in the semi finals, and with Kirilenko knocking on the top 10 door, it would be a tough ask for her to beat Petra, the World no.8. However Kirilenko did just that as she fought hard and came from a set down to beat the former Wimbledon champion in 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. This is the first time that Kirilenko has made the semi finals of a Premier mandatory WTA event, which is a big win for her, not only that she has beaten two top ten ranked players this week as well, so it shows that Kirilenko is going from strength to strength at the moment, and she no doubt will be in the top 10 soon.
Next up we had Maria Sharapova who took on Sara Errani, the World No.7, in what was their toughest match to date. In previous meetings Sharapova was able to power past Errani with fair ease, but not so this time, as Errani battled hard with Sharapova throughout the first set, which went to a tiebreak, with Sharapova edging Errani to win the set. In the 2nd set however after some more resistance from Errani, Sharapova finally broke her opponent down and took the lead, breaking Errani twice, and denying her a place in the semi finals, with a 7-6(6), 6-2 win. Maria despite having not dropped a set so far in this tournament, has had some pretty tough matches so far, and this one was no exception and its shows that Errani is also getting that bit closer to her and is improving her game as well. But Maria being who she is, the ultimate warrior, was always going to come through this one as she had all the firepower and sheer grit to see her through.
Which brings on to what was supposed the next two quarter final matches for the ladies, however they were both cut short. Starting with Victoria Azarenka, who was set to take on Caroline Wozniacki in her quarter final match, Vika withdraw with an ankle injury. This was a big disappointment as I really looking forward to seeing them play, but I also figured it would have happened. And while I definitely appreciate there is a lot of wear and tear for the players on the tour, this is one area where Azarenka has always been ropey, and that is her physical fitness, as she has always been prone to injuries, and in the last few years she would retire from matches five or six times a year. To her credit though she has improved her fitness and she has never retired from a match since 2011 (that I know of, although maybe she has!). But that was where in my opinion that Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova were both better World No.1 players, as they both have great fitness and mental determination, which is where Azarenka is a bit vulnerable. In previous matches when Azarenka was in a bit of pain you could see her trying to fight through tears, and it shows that despite her aggressive bossy demeanour on court, she is also quite fragile as well. Regardless of all that, its a shame she has to withdraw from the event, especially as she is the defending champion, so she will lose some ranking points no doubt for that.
And the other withdrawal was Sam Stosur who set to take on Angelique Kerber, but she suffered a calf muscle injury, which forced to withdraw also. So this sets up a very intruiging clash with Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber for a place in the final of Indian Wells. But who will win it???? To be honest I have to go with Kerber, as she has got the measure of Caroline these days, although Caroline has definitely improved since the beginning of the year, so while she isn't the favourite I definitely think she has a chance to win, and I hope she does, as it would be great to see her in the final.
So that's the ladies semi final line up set, with Maria's Sharapova and Kirilenko facing off, and Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber facing off in the other match. So they both promise to be really good matches, so let's hope they are.
And quickly onto the men, so far Tomas Berdych who played Kevin Anderson in the first men's quarter final match, has beaten the big South African fella, with a straight sets win of 6-4, 6-4. Berdych so far this year has shown some really impressive form this year, and if he wins he could play either Roger or Rafa for a place in the final. And if he plays Roger then he has a good chance of reaching the final, as he already has beaten Rog in Dubai this year, so no doubt he could do so again.
But next up of course after that is of course the showdown between Roger and Rafa, which promises to be quite a match. Last year the two men met in the desert and the match was totally in Roger's favour as he beat Rafa quite easily with a straight sets victory. But this year it could be different so we will have to see, and Rafa so far has made an impressive transition to hard court, far better in fact that anyone so far had anticipated, so tonight should be a treat. And if I didn't know any better, then I would be inclined to say that Rafa would be my slight favourite to win this match in 3 sets. But then what do I know???? Whatever happens it will be fun finding out.
So that's it for now, Andy Murray's match with Del Potro will be on Friday night, which also promises to be a cracker, and Novak Djokovic will take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as well, so we will see how that one goes. If Andy and Nole win, well we all know what we are in stall for on Saturday, and that's another Australian open final rematch. But more on that later should it materialise.
And that's it for now. More to follow as usual soon....
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