Kevin Anderson put on a serving clinic to edge past Argentine Nicolas Kicker into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday. The South African seventh seed sent down 22 aces to his opponent’s one in the 7-6(1), 7-6(3) result. Anderson, the 2017 US Open runner-up, has twice reached the quarter-finals in the Californian desert (2013 and 2014). He will look to extend his perfect 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against last year’s Indian Wells semi-finalist, No. 11 seed Pablo Carreno Busta (l. Wawrinka). Watch Full Match Replays The South African defeated the Spaniard in last year’s US Open semi-finals. His defeat of Kicker, No. 94 in the ATP Rankings, ended an impressive Indian Wells debut for the...
Taylor Fritz was inches away from losing in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open. If a whizzing inside-out forehand from best friend Reilly Opelka landed just marginally to the left, Fritz would have been out of the tournament in his opener. Instead, the #NextGenATP American survived. And after two more strong wins — the latest coming in the form of a nail-biting 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(1) victory on Monday evening against an in-form Fernando Verdasco — the 20-year-old is into the Round of 16 at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event for the first time. "To pull out a match whenever it's close like that can go either way. You're nervous," Fritz admitted. "It just makes the feeling...
Roger Federer extended his unbeaten 2018 winning streak to 14 matches Monday by defeating World No. 28 Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-1 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. After handing back an early break to allow Krajinovic to draw level at 2-all, the defending champion moved into cruise control. At one point he won 17 straight points en route to taking a 6-2, 3-0 lead, winning 10 of the final 11 games in the match. The World No. 1 is seeking his third tour-level title of the season (Australian Open, Rotterdam), 98th title of his career and 28th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy. "I was playing aggressive and feeling like he was not loving my slice, and then...
After losing his racquets in transit from Acapulco to Indian Wells, Hyeon Chung was not off to the best start in the Californian desert last week. Fortunately, following a Twitter plea to the airline, the 21-year-old South Korean was reunited with the tools to his trade in time for his second BNP Paribas Open campaign. On Monday, that campaign steps up a notch when the No. 23 seed squares off against experienced Czech 12th seed Tomas Berdych for a place in the fourth round. It will be the third FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter between the pair with Berdych having claimed both prior matches in straight sets. View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the 2018 BNP Paribas Open third round & vote...
Former champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert swept into the BNP Paribas Open second round on Sunday when the fifth seeds defeated Damir Dzumhur and Filip Krajinovic 6-1, 6-2 in just 46 minutes. From 1-1 in the first set, the French pair won nine straight games to a 4-0 advantage in the second set. They lost just nine of their service points. Two years ago, Mahut and Herbert captured their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells with a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock in the final. They have since compiled a 6-1 record in Masters 1000 finals and are 11-5 overall in championship matches. The team will now prepare to challenge Pablo...
