Rafael Nadal survived a wild tiebreaker to beat Fernando Verdasco 6-0 7-6 (9) in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. “It does stay (in your mind)”.
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“He gets in a tie-break and you know you’re in trouble.
He has everything to become a big star and is playing well”, Nadal said.
There was a mini shock in another early clash on Tuesday as 16th seed Gilles Simon slumped to a 6-2 6-2 defeat to Germany’s 18-year-old Alexander Zverev. But I played some good tennis.
The former world number one and three-time victor in Indian Wells said on the tournament’s official website: ‘I lost matches similar to this one in Australia, in Buenos Aires, in Rio de Janeiro, so it’s important winning matches like this for me’.
“It will be a tough match and I must be ready to fight and suffer”.
Nishikori, chasing his second ATP World Tour title of the season after victory in Memphis last month, will next face American ninth seed John Isner, who fired 15 aces in his 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win over France’s Adrian Mannarino.
Williams had 21 winners and went unbroken despite serving at just 55 per cent, closing out her victory in 63 minutes.
“I feel lucky to win the tie-break, and at the same time I think at the end of the tie-break I played well with not many mistakes and going for the points”.
World number one Djokovic claimed his eighth win in nine meetings with Philipp Kohlschreiber thanks to his victory at Indian Wells on Tuesday.
“Imagine if you’re Andy Murray, you’ve been a great player, you’ve been into multiple Grand Slams finals and lose to Djokovic in the Australian Open 1500 times. It is just a different feeling”, Williams said following her win over Bondarenko.
Williams, who won the event in 1999 and 2001, returned to the tournament last year, ending a 14-year boycott which began after she beat Kim Clijsters in the 2001 final.
“I like how she’s aggressive”. She has yet to drop a set in three matches.
In another all-Spanish match, Feliciano Lopez outlasted Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (5), 6-7 (10), 6-4.
Sock’s fightback against Dominic Thiem was brief as he lost 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 to the Austrian.
In the evening session, reigning champion Simona Halep steamrolled Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-4 to get her title defence off to a flying start.
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Johanna Konta’s attempt to break into the top 20 of the rankings failed as she was beaten 7-6 (7/2) 3-6 6-3 by Karolina Piskova while third seed Agnieszka Radwanska was barely troubled in a 6-3 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic.
