ATP/WTA Round Up: March 2-March 16
WTA
BNP Paribas Open ♦ March 3-16
Indian Wells, Calif.
Surface: Hard
Flavia Pennetta earned the biggest tournament win of her singles career in dispatching a hobbled Agnieska Radwanska in the BNP Paribas Open finals, 6-2, 6-1. The 32-year-old Italian, who has won the Australian Open in doubles, jumps nine spots in the rankings to 12th and is closing in on her previous high mark of 10th in the world from 2009.
In the final, Radwanska received treatment on her knee after taking a 1-0 lead in the second set, and did not win another game after the timeout. It was Pennetta’s second victory over Radwanska in as many months, having beaten her 6-4, 6-1 in February’s Dubai Tennis Championships.
Pennetta beat two top-three opponents for the title; in addition to Radwanska, Pennetta downed Li Na in straight sets in the semifinals, 7-6, 6-3. The Italian veteran had a tougher go of it when battling two American youngsters. Pennetta beat 20-year-old Sloane Stephens 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and fought off 17-year-old Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, in the second round.
ATP
BNP Paribas Open ♦ March 3-16
Indian Wells, Calif.
Surface: Hard
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer squared off for the second time of the 2014 season, and Djokovic evened the score, winning a decisive third set tie-breaker 7-3 for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 championship victory. Federer had previously dispatched the Serb in the Dubai Tennis Championship’s semifinals on his way to winning that tournament. Both matches went three sets, and interestingly enough, whichever play won the first set did not end up winning the match.
Federer seems to have some swagger back this season after a deflating 2013 against the “Big 4,” and though the third set tiebreaker quickly got away from him (Djokovic led 5-1 at the changeover), Federer had to break back late in the set when Djokovic served for the match at 5-4. Djokovic also had trouble closing out his semifinal match against John Isner, when he lost the second set in a tiebreaker after twice serving for the match at 5-2 and 5-4. Djokovic went on to beat Isner 6-1 in the third set. But enough with the nitpicking; Djokovic is the champ of what some call the “Fifth Major” in Indian Wells, a facility that rivals the four slams in attendance, opening its gates to 431,527 visitors in 2014. For comparison, the 2012 French Open hosted 430,093 guests.
WTA Players to Watch
Casey Dellacqua
After winning two rounds of qualifying matches to break into the Indian Wells main draw, the twenty-nine-year-old Australian beat 55th-ranked American Christina McHale in the first round. She followed the upset of McHale with wins over two top-20 opponents: 20th ranked Kristen Flipkens of Belgium and 14th ranked Sara Errani of Italy. Dellacqua dropped the opening set in each of those two matches before prevailing in three. She then advanced to the quarterfinals with a walkover from the twenty-year-old American Lauren Davis, before losing to semifinalist Simona Halep in straight sets. (Davis herself had a memorable upset earlier, taking down Victoria Azarenka, 6-0, 7-6, in the second round.) Dellacqua has climbed a remarkable 86 spots in the rankings, from 142nd to 56th, since the start of the 2014 season.
Camila Giorgi
By making the Round of 16, 22-year-old Camila Giorgi scored her best tournament result since a Round of 16 appearance at the 2013 US Open. That tournament included a prime-time win over eighth seeded Caroline Wozniacki, and at Indian Wells Giorgi pulled off another narrow top-ten upset, this time of Maria Sharapova in the third round by a score of 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. Giorgi lost to eventual tournament champion and fellow countrywoman Flavia Pennetta in her next match, but she had already made her mark on her tour resumé with her second straight win over a top-ten opponent. Like Dellacqua, Giorgi also fought through two rounds of qualifying before making a splash in the main draw. Her ranking jumps from 79th to 67th.
ATP Player to Watch
Alexandr Dolgopolov
The 25-year-old Ukrainian jumped eight spots in the rankings this week to 23rd in the world following his surprise semifinal appearance at Indian Wells. Dolgopolov nailed the biggest upset of the tournament with a third round three-setter over Rafael Nadal, which he sealed with a narrow, 7-5 third set tiebreaker. Dolgopolov amused the crowd early in the match by burning through his three challenges in the first three games, all on outrageously pointless objections. Dolgopolov went on to win that set, and the match, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. He then scored straight set wins over 13th seeded Fabio Fognini and 10th seeded Milos Raonic before being ousted by Roger Federer in the semis. It was the third straight tournament semifinal result or better for Dolgopolov. He reached the finals in Rio in February, where he lost to Nadal, and reached the semifinals in Acapulco, losing to Kevin Anderson in three sets. He’s shaved 31 spots off his ranking in the span of those three tournaments to reach the 23rd position.
They said it …
“I love night matches. I have started to try to go to bed later just in case I play night matches. I used to go to bed at 8:00, 8:30, and then my coach told me, No. You have to start going to bed later in case you play night matches.” –Lauren Davis on playing night matches at the BNP Paribas Open.
“If I go alone, it's no problem. The people always, She looks like, but not sure. 
But if I was go with my husband, for sure, 150 times, and they say, Oh, this is Li Na husband, and they say, Oh, This is Li Na.”–Li Na at the BNP Paribas Open, on visiting her home city of Wuhan, China.
“It's usually one pair of shoes for me for a match. So if there is a hole in the middle of the shoe, I'm going to throw it out. It's better to give it to the people, I guess.”–Alexandr Dolgopolov at the BNP Paribas Open, on why he gives his sneakers to fans after matches.
“I’m not.”–Sloane Stephens at the BNP Paribas Open, in response to a reporter who said: “You don’t strike me as very outdoorsy.” Stephens is planning a camping trip.
