Tennis News

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The BNP Paribas Open draw featured a full slate of intriguing second round possibilities, few more than No.5 seed Dominika Cibulkova’s against Jelena Ostapenko. The reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion carved out a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over the rising Latvian to book a third round meeting with Kristyna Pliskova.

“It was a really big fight,” she told WTA Insider after the match. :I feel like I had to fight for every single ball because I wasn’t feeling great on the court. It’s hard to feel great against a player who doesn’t give you rhythm. I won’t say I was struggling but I had some hard times today; I tried to stay really strong and positive, fight for every single ball. I appreciate this win a lot becuase it was a tough one.”

A former Wimbledon junior winner, Ostapenko came perilously close to handing a then-unbeaten Karolina Pliskova her first loss of the season at the Australian Open, and has been ranked as high as No.33 since reaching her first Premier 5 final at last year’s Qatar Total Open.

Ostapenko finds the angle on the backhand! #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/YlDvjXhAb5

— WTA (@WTA) March 11, 2017

The teenager showed her full arsenel of power shots as day turned to night on Stadium 3, hitting 33 winners to 30 unforced errors through three sets, but was undone by her serve – hitting 10 double faults to just two aces in a match that was dominated by return.

“This match wasn’t how I wanted it to be; I can play much better, but it also depends on the opponent. I knew it was going to be a hard one, so it didn’t surprise me. I just had to fight for every single ball. I was glad with how I finished the match; I felt like myself in a few moments like those.”

Cibulkova, by contrast, had something to prove after losing her last two matches in three sets, one in the semifinals of Doha to Pliskova, and another to Ekaterina Makarova at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The best of @Cibulkova. #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/TgQqEYRl9J

— WTA (@WTA) March 11, 2017

Dealing with the pressure of defending her breakout 2016 season, the Slovak was forced to dig deep during the two hour, 11 minute epic, shurgging off a shaky serving day of her own to hit six winners to just two unforced errors in the final set to ease into the round of 32.

“It doesn’t matter how you play in practice, but I’d been practicing well. I had a few days off after Dubai and had a great week of practice. We changed a few things and I was feeling really great.

“I was going for my shots more in practice, playing more aggressively. Even if I made a mistake, my coach would remind me to be even more aggressive with my footwork and keep pressing.”

Dominika @Cibulkova books a spot in @BNPPARIBASOPEN Third round!

Ousts Ostapenko 6-4, 4-6, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/ptJ6ngAvib

— WTA (@WTA) March 11, 2017

Standing between her and a spot in the second week is the left-handed Pliskova, who is starting to come out from the shadow of sister Karolina, who kicks off her Indian Wells campaign against Olympic champion Monica Puig later tonight.

“It takes time for me to adjust to lefties,” Cibulkova said of her next match. “I have a strategy when I play them, and I try not to flip my patterns and think too much about it. I just have to return the same way, but mind the bounce. I’ve never played her before, and so it’ll be a different one. This match should give me a good feeling, and the confidence to handle a match like this and to win it.”

Pliskova roared past No.33 seed and 2016 quarterfinalist Daria Kasatkina, 6-0, 6-3, hiting five aces to advance in 64 minutes.

“I know how I can play and this wasn’t even my best,” Pliskova told WTA Insider. “I’m not that surprised to win, but I’m still happy because it was an easy score.

“I felt, especially in the second set after she called her coach, that she was trying to put every ball in. The second set was dangerous because if I missed a few shots she wasn’t. But still, I play fast, and it’s tough to put everything in – especially on the serve!”

Asked about playing Cibulkova, Pliskova debated whether to ask her sister for advice.

“I never played her, but I will maybe ask Karolina. Maybe she will tell me something, but she has a bad record against her too. Maybe I’ll just stick to my plan. Last time she won, but last three times she lost, so maybe I won’t even ask her!” she laughed.

Taking a break from the desk to catch a fun contrast in styles out on Stadium 5. Power rolling so far. #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/IKYxczKiJr

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 11, 2017

Still, it’s been a banner day for the top players despite the underdog heavy draw; all but two of the 16 seeds in action advanced. No.8 seed and Singapore semifinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova knocked out Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, 7-6(3), 6-4; she’ll next play No.26 seed Roberta Vinci, who earned a win over unseeded American Madison Brengle.

Coming through the toughest match of the day was No.10 seed Elina Svitolina, who extended her winning streak to 14 matches on Friday with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) win over China’s Wang Qiang. It won’t get any easier for the Ukrainian, who next faces former doubles partner and No.24 seed Daria Gavrilova; the Aussie eased past 2009 US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer, 6-2, 7-6(5).

? on the backhand from @ElinaSvitolina! #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/9taBockf62

— WTA (@WTA) March 10, 2017

No.17 seed Barbora Strycova won a rematch of last year’s Dubai final over Sara Errani, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2; awaiting her in the third round is No.19 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who cruised past Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit, 6-4, 6-4.

Congratulations, Ms. Bacsinszky. Nice win today. And that was kind and thoughtful of you to make that little girl's day ?@TimeaOfficial pic.twitter.com/w09NF8wBMi

— EustaceTarwater (@EustaceTarwater) March 10, 2017

Indian Wells will also play host to a battle of surprise French Open semifinalists; No.15 seed Timea Bacsinszky reached the final four on the terre battue in 2015 and will play No.18 seed Kiki Bertens, who made the semifinals last year. Bacsinszky defeated Monica Niculescu, 7-5, 6-2, while Bertens handed an unhappy birthday present to newly 20-year-old Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-2.

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA — Ajla Tomljanovic is just happy to be back. The 23-year-old was speaking to reporters less than an hour after a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Julia Goerges in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open. Indian Wells was just her second tournament back after undergoing shoulder surgery in March of last year, with her first tournament coming last week in Acapulco, where she defeated Eugenie Bouchard in her first match.

Currently ranked No.664, Tomljanovic could finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing that after nearly a year away she could still hang with the best.

“A loss has never felt so good,” Tomljanovic said. “I’ve never been this upbeat after a loss, so that’s a good sign.

“I’d be so unfair to myself to be disappointed in myself at this point. Of course you’re disappointed at a loss. You’re a competitive athlete. But it lasted for 30 seconds.”

That was more than fun ??? pic.twitter.com/VL8JkoezcH

— Ajla Tomljanovic (@Ajlatom) March 2, 2017

With her return to the tour, Tomljanovic brings a new perspective and appreciation for life on tour. Prior to her surgery, the Croatian reached a career-high of No.47 in 2015, making her first final in Pattaya City that year and notching her first top-five scalp, beating Agnieszka Radwanska at the 2014 French Open to make the Round of 16.

“It just feels like I’ve been away for decades,” she said. “This time last year I was supposed to play here and I had surgery when it started. My surgeon told me, ‘You’ll be back next year at that tournament.’ I thought my level, is it ever going to be there again?

“Just to be here and be competitive with these girls, I’m not far off. It’s the little things now that are important. It’s just encouraging.”

This was the best thing that I've seen in a long long time https://t.co/PHRzvtkE9E

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) March 1, 2017

Tomljanovic admits her time away from the game was difficult. She was unable to play tennis for six months after her surgery but could not bring herself to use the time purposefully.

“I probably wasted a good four months being depressed,” she said. “Not depressed, but not doing anything with my life. Now I probably regret it a little bit. My dad was like, ‘Take classes, go do stuff’. But at the same time I’m constantly doing rehab. I couldn’t shut off completely that part of my life. I wasn’t mentally able to start something new. I had no motivation. My parents didn’t push me because I’m not a kid anymore. Now I kind of wish they did.”

But Tomljanovic slowly came to terms with life without tennis. Paradoxically, the realization that she did not need the sport allowed her to appreciate the opportunity to play again.

“Honestly, yeah, I could totally be super happy without playing.

“I know tennis is not your whole life, I know there are so many things in your life that are more important. But at the same time, it’s so precious. The 10 years in your life you can spend like this, look at how many people can do it. I probably appreciate it way more. I’ll never say I hate tennis ever again.”

Tomljanovic’s game is built around her booming serve, and that’s the shot that will take the longest time to get back online. Her consistency off the ground and her return game in particular have exceeded her expectations so far. “Even I was like, whoa,” Tomljanovic said, when asked about how well she returned against Bouchard in Acapulco.

The road ahead will not be an easy one. Tomljanovic earned a spot in the main draw of Acapulco via a special ranking of No.75, and entered Indian Wells similarly. She has also received a wildcard into the Miami Open. Unless she racks up immediate results, she’ll be back to battling it out on the ITF circuit to build her ranking back up.

“It’s gonna be a grind,” she said. “I’m going to have to play a lot, lose a lot, win a lot hopefully, in the end. But it’s going to be a long way back. Even though I had an okay match here, I won one match last week, there will be a lot of matches where nobody is watching. It’s okay. I’m happy to play anywhere.”

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Kristina Mladenovic is happy to have found a new doubles partner in the highly experienced Russian grand slam champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova.

It was something of a shock when Mladenovic announced that she and Caroline Garcia were putting an end to their doubles ambitions for the foreseeable future.

Mladenovic and Kuznetsova got their partnership off to the best of starts at the BNP Paribas Open, defeating Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke 6-4, 6-1. They next face Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai in the second round.

Svetlana and Kiki all happy and such.
They're moving on here in the desert. ?? pic.twitter.com/n6fxTc30EA

— Christopher Levy (@tennis_shots) March 9, 2017

The French pairing of Mladenovic and Garcia enjoyed no shortage of doubles success, winning the French Open in 2016 as well as being runners-up at the US Open later in the same year.