Tag Archives: BNP Paribas Open

Garcia Defeats No. 5 Seed Ana Ivanovic at the BNP Paribas Open

Posted on by
Reply

Caroline Garcia is shaking things up at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells …

During Monday’s women’s action, the 21-year-old part-Spanish professional tennis player sent No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic packing after a three-set thriller in the third round.

Caroline Garcia

Garcia, the No. 25 seed, defeated Ivanovic 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

It appeared Ivanovic would lose in straight sets as she was down 5-4 in the second set with Garcia serving to possibly close out the match, but Ivanovic mustered a three-game streak to keep herself alive, even if briefly.

In the third set, with Garcia serving while ahead 3-2, the game went back and forth in deuce, before Garcia pulled through. From there, she cruised to victory.

It’s Garcia’s second victory over Ivanovic this year. She previously beat the Serbian player in straight sets in the semifinals at the 2015 Monterrey Open. She’d eventually lose to Timea Bacsinszky in the final.

Garcia, currently ranked No. 28 in the world, will next face No. 24 seed Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round.

Bautista Agut Defeats Ernests Gulbis to Reach Kremlin Cup Final

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been a banner year for Roberto Bautista Agut, winning the first two ATP World Tour titles of his career this summer. And, now he’s gunning for his third.

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis player reached his third final of the year after a 6-4, 6-4 victory over third seed Ernests Gulbis at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Saturday.

Roberto Bautista Agut

Bautista Agut, the tournament’s fifth seed, will meet second seed Marin Cilic in the championship match.

In the 15th position in the Emirates ATP Race To London, he claimed 75 percent of his service points and did not drop serve through 10 service games against Gulbis.

He broke the Latvian once in each set to close out the match in 82 minutes.

Bautista Agut improved to 1-3 in his his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Gulbis, who most recently prevailed in three sets in their fourth-round encounter at the BNP Paribas Open in March.

 

He previously won his first ATP title at the Topshelf Open in the Netherlands in June, and then followed it up with a championship win at the Mercedes Cup in Germany in July.

Pasarell Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame

Posted on by
Reply

Charlie Pasarell has entered the tennis hall…

The 69-year-old Puerto Rican former-tennis-player-turned-commentator-and-promoter has been inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

Charlie Pasarell

Pasarell was a prestigious junior player, even gracing the cover of World Tennis Magazine at the age of 11. He won the NCAA men’s singles and doubles titles in 1966 while attending the University of California, Los Angeles.

He competed in major pro tournaments from 1960 through 1979, proving most successful in doubles. Pasarell reached the finals in men’s doubles at the U.S. Championships in 1965 and 1969, the French Open with Arthur Ashe in 1970, and the Australian Open in 1977.

Charlie Pasarell

He also served as a member of the United States’ Davis Cup team in 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1974, helping the U.S. to victory in the 1968 Davis Cup competition.

After retiring, Pasarell was instrumental in the development of the Masters 1000  tennis event, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. He served as the tournament director until retiring from the post in 2012. He’s credited with helping the tournament grow from drawing 30,000 people to bringing in 370,000 tennis fans.

Pasarell is also a commentator for The Tennis Channel.

Other inductees this year include former players Ion Tiriac, Cliff Drysdale and Martina Hingis.

Nadal Defeats Tomas Berdych to Reach Indian Wells Final

Posted on by
Reply

Following his big win over Roger Federer in the first real test of his comeback to the ATP Tour, Rafael Nadal has earned a ticket to the finals.

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis star rallied to beat Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and reach his fourth ATP Tour final in as many events. The final score: 6-4, 7-5.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal, back in action after a knee injury which sidelined him for seven months, has got off to the best start of his career this year with 16 wins and only one defeat, with this latest victory being his 13th consecutive one.

Nadal, seeking his third consecutive Indian Wells title, now meets Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated Andy Murray in the quarterfinals and Novak Djokovic in the semifinals..

“It’s very, very difficult to imagine something like this,” said Nadal, who has won two clay-court titles this year and finished runner-up in another. “But here we are today, and very happy about all what happened the last month, especially last three weeks,” said Nadal.

“I don’t have nothing to lose after seven months,” Nadal added. “I did much more than what I dreamed. Victories like today, like the other day, helps you a lot for the confidence.”

Nadal Defeats Federer in First Real Comeback Test

Posted on by
2

In a battle of two injured titans, Rafael Nadal has come away with a big win…

The 26-year-old Spanish tenista downed rival Roger Federer 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to record the biggest win so far in his comeback to the ATP Tour.

Rafael Nadal

The 29th meeting in one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history didn’t live up to the hype, as Federer struggled throughout Thursday night’s contest with a back injury that limited his normally fluid movement.

Nadal, the world No. 5, played aggressively from the get-go and earned his first break point with Federer serving at 2-2 in the first set. Although he missed out on that opportunity, Nadal converted another chance two games later and never looked back.

“I played a fantastic first set, in my opinion. The second set was strange,” Nadal said in the post-match press conference. “The second set, I think Roger didn’t fight as usual. He probably had some problems and he didn’t feel enough comfortable to keep fighting.”

“Both of us tried to play our best. I played much better than yesterday (a three-set victory Wednesday night over Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis). My movements today were much, much better than yesterday, so I’m very happy for that, especially after a long match yesterday, to be able to compete well the next day,” said  Nadal.

Federer, meanwhile, said the injury was no worse than in his round-of-16 match Wednesday against countryman Stanislas Wawrinka, which he pulled out 7-5 in the third set.

“(It was the) same as against Stan. I mean, I could play,” Federer said. “I’m happy to be out there and able to compete. But it’s obviously a small issue.”

Nadal, who was forced to pull out of last year’s 2012 London Games and U.S. Open and this year’s Australian Open, started his comeback early last month at a small clay-court event in Viña de Mar, Chile, losing in the final there to Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos.

But he hasn’t lost a match since, winning two other Latin American clay-court events in Sao Paulo and Acapulco, Mexico, and making a smooth transition to hard courts with three match victories so far in Indian Wells.