Tennis: Federer wins quarterfinal at Indian Wells, on track to meet Nadal

NORTH CAROLINA - Roger Federer stayed on course to face longtime rival Rafael Nadal when he beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 6-4 in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals at Indian Wells, California on Friday.

Federer broke his 67th-ranked Polish opponent once in each set and that was all the Swiss needed to prevail in just over an hour on the outdoor hard court.

It was the first match between the pair and far from one-sided, as Hurkacz had 2 break points but could seize neither.

"I was trying to fight, compete and believe I can do it," Hurkacz told reporters. "Roger was playing great in the crucial moments. I had some small chances in the second set."

"He's changing directions all the time (with his serve) so it's really hard to read it."

Next up on Saturday for fourth seed Federer will be his 39th career encounter with Nadal, provided the Spaniard wins his quarterfinal against Russian Karen Khachanov later on Friday.

Nadal leads Federer 23-15 on a head-to-head basis but the Swiss has won the past 5 encounters.

They have not met since Shanghai in 2017, the same year that Federer beat Nadal 6-2 6-3 in the fourth round at Indian Wells.

The other semifinal will match Austrian seventh seed Dominic Thiem and Canadian 13th seed Milos Raonic.

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Tennis: Osaka, Halep sent packing from Indian Wells

Naomi Osaka followed Simona Halep through the exit door at the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday as the top two players in the world were sent packing in the fourth round at Indian Wells.

World number one Osaka never found her rhythm against Belinda Bencic as the Swiss used her precise groundstrokes and pinpoint serving to topple the defending champion 6-3 6-1 in just over an hour.

The 22-year-old Bencic, who has risen as high as world number seven before missing time with injuries, hit a forehand volley on match point to seal the win and send her into the quarter-finals, where she will face either Karolina Pliskova or Anett Kontaveit.

Bencic, the world number 23, has made a habit of upending top 10 players of late, defeating four en route to winning the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last month.

Osaka's loss ended a bad day for world number ones after the men's top player, Serb Novak Djokovic, fell 6-4 6-4 to Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Earlier in the day, Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova ran Halep ragged before dumping the Romanian out of the tournament 6-2 3-6 6-2.

Halep, who received medical treatment for blisters on her foot during the match, won less than half of her first-service points and hit just six winners to go with 36 unforced errors.

"I was running too much and too defensive," the Romanian told reporters. "But it's everything I could do today."

Halep's loss ensured Osaka will retain her number one ranking after the tournament.

The win was 19-year-old Vondrousova's first over a top-10 player in six attempts.

"I think I'm playing well all week but this is something special because she's number two in the world," Vondrousova said. "I was just fighting for every point."

Another teenager, unseeded Canadian Bianca Andreescu, upset 18th seed Wang Qiang of China 7-5 6-2 to book her place in the quarters. The win was the 18-year-old Andreescu's 25th of the year, the most of any WTA player.

She will next face Garbine Muguruza after the Spaniard battled back to dispatch Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 5-7 6-1 6-4.

Ukrainian Elina Svitolina came from a break down in the third set to defeat Australian Ashleigh Barty 7-6(8) 5-7 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time. 

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Toby Davis/Peter Rutherford)

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Djokovic beats Federer in Indian Wells final

Novak Djokovic beat his old rival Roger Federer 3-6 6-3 7-6(3) on Sunday to win a nailbiting BNP Paribas Open final at Indian Wells and capture his first title of 2014.

The Serbian overcame a shaky start when he dropped his opening service game, then survived a nervous finish when he failed to serve out the match at the first attempt before finally sealing victory in the tiebreaker.

"Today was an incredible match," Djokovic said after being presented with the winner's crystal trophy.

"It was an incredibly difficult match. Roger is playing great and it's always a pleasure playing with him."

The thrilling victory gave Djokovic his third championship in the Californian desert tournament and lifted his career tally to 42 titles.

It was Federer's first loss in a final at Indian Wells after he had previously won a record four times.

But the 32-year-old showed he was anything but a spent force as he went toe to toe with the best hardcourt player in the world.

"Personally, I'm very happy. I think I'm playing great tennis now and I'm really enjoying myself," Federer said.

"Of course, I would have liked to have more won a few more points at the end but Novak made it tough, so congratulations to him for winning."

Federer reached the final without dropping a set and made a flying start against Djokovic, in their 33rd career meeting. Despite Sunday's loss, Federer leads their head to head record 17-16.

Djokovic double-faulted twice in his opening service game as his Swiss opponent snatched the early break and went on to take the first set in 31 minutes.

Djokovic made a much better start to the second set, winning the opening point with an ace right down the middle, then broke Federer's serve in the eighth game to lead 5-3.

He served out the set then broke Federer early in the third and had the chance to serve out the match when he led 5-4.

But with Federer chipping and charging from the baseline, Djokovic cracked.

Roared on by the crowd, Federer tied the set at 6-6 to force a tiebreak, but Djokovic regained his composure to clinch the title after almost two and a quarter hours.

(Reporting by Julian Linden in New York; editing by Gene Cherry)

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Federer books semi-final clash with Dolgopolov

INDIAN WELLS - Roger Federer kept his bid for a fifth Indian Wells ATP Masters title on track Thursday with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Kevin Anderson.

The 32-year-old Swiss great needed just 69 minutes to book his berth in the final four, where he'll face Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Federer saved the only break point he faced in the match early in the opening set and clearly had the answer to the tall South African's booming serve.

Federer broke Anderson at love in the final game of the first set, then broke him twice more before finishing the match with a love service game.

"You know, I gave myself chances and started with a few more returns in play at five-all," Federer said. "I was just also now in the match at that point, feeling good movement-wise, feeling good absorbing his pace. Then also being aggressive myself.

"I think the combination there in those 10 minutes, they all worked out for me. So it was big to win the set and then to go on to break early in the second. Then double break was like a bonus. From then on I was home basically.

"It was a really good match for me," Federer said.

It was a textbook performance from the former world number one, whose ranking has slipped to eighth in the world but is projected to rise to five next week by reaching the final four.
Despite the decline in his ranking after a modest 2013 campaign, Federer is enjoying a strong start to the season.
He arrived in California off an impressive title run in Dubai, where he claimed his first ATP trophy in nine months.

Federer last played Dolgopolov in the Swiss Indoors in Basel in 2010, when the Ukrainian retired while trailing.

But Federer said he had practised with Dolgopolov late last year and before the Dubai tournament, and is looking forward to facing him again.

"He was playing really well in practice," Federer said. "He really takes the ball early. He likes to take advantage of the fact when there is a short ball he just smashes it, and he's got a great serve.

"Definitely going to be some interesting shots out there."

Dolgopolov also used a stellar return game to neutralize the power of Milos Raonic in a 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final win over the big-serving Canadian.

First Masters semi-final for Dolgopolov

Dolgopolov, the world number 31 from Ukraine, has reached the semi-finals of an elite ATP Masters tournament for the first time with a run that included a third-round upset of world number one Rafael Nadal.

Dolgopolov knew that returning well would be crucial against Raonic.

"I'm quite pleased how I anticipated on his serve and have seen the toss of the ball and was really, really concentrated to get those serves back," Dolgopolov said.

Raonic, playing his first tournament since injuring his ankle in reaching the third round of the Australian Open, was plainly astonished to find serves of 145 mph (233 kph) and 141 mph being sent back over the net to him.

"He was a factor of why I didn't serve as well as I would have liked," Raonic said. "He made me think more than most people can on my service games."

After Dolgopolov had raced through the opening set, Raonic seemed to have found his range, taking a quick 3-0 lead in the second.

However, Dolgopolov at last converted on his seventh break chance of the set in the fifth game, and broke Raonic again for a 4-3 lead that he wouldn't relinquish.

The quarter-finals conclude on Friday, when world number two Novak Djokovic takes on France's Julien Benneteau and American John Isner faces Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

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Li loving life despite weight of expectations

INDIAN WELLS - China's Li Na is loving her tennis life, despite elevated expectations and an inevitable smattering of nay-sayers who still think her two Grand Slam titles are a fluke.

"Of course I always hear a lot," the world number two said Monday after booking her fourth-round berth at the Indian Wells hardcourt tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Czech Karolina Pliskova.

"So many people say 'Oh, she's lucky.' After I won the French, after I won in Australia, they say 'Oh, she's lucky, she cannot win anymore, blah, blah, blah.

"I say, that's OK, doesn't matter. I already have two (Grand Slams) in my pocket. Nobody can take it. I still love tennis life, I don't care what other people say."

If the critics don't get to her, Li admitted that she is having to learn how to handle herself now that she's coming into big tournaments as a favorite.

The world number two is the top seed at Indian Wells for the first time, and admitted it was a different feeling.

"I try to feel the same, but it is different. Before if I came to a tournament maybe I was like number six or number seven seed. Now it's high attention, everyone is focused (on me)."

So far she has thrived in the spotlight in the California desert, although she has yet to headline a night session.

Li has been the first match on stadium court in both of her matches here, and while she said she's not a morning person she enjoys the convenience of knowing she won't have to wait for another match to finish to go on.

She joked that the early wake-up call contributed to a bevy of early double faults.

She overcame nine of them in the match en route to the victory over the 67th-ranked Pliskova.

It was something she said she would work on before her next match, when she will take on Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, a 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 6-0 winner over 21st-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

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Fashion passion thaws out Sharapova, Serena cold war

INDIAN WELLS - The sometimes tense relationship between tennis superstars Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams may be taking a turn for the better over their shared love of fashion.

After winning her opening match at the Indian Wells hardcourt tournament, Sharapova seemed delighted to learn that Williams had tweeted that she thought the Russian's outfit was "totally cute".

"Really? Are those her exact words, 'totally cute?'" Sharapova said.

Williams, who hasn't played Indian Wells since 2001, concluded her tweet with "#approved".

Sharapova and Williams were caught up in a war of words before Wimbledon last year, after the American took a dig at Sharapova's romance with Bulgarian ATP player Grigor Dimitrov.

Sharapova hit back with comments on the American's romance with her French coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

The two have since tried to smooth things over publicly, and Sharapova seemed intrigued by Williams' tweet.

"I think we have to exchange designs," Sharapova said. "We have to design an outfit for each other, without knowing -- that would be fun to do, without telling each other what it is, just unveiling it."

But Sharapova would draw the line at some designs -- such as the kind of catsuit Williams famously modeled at the 2002 US Open.

"Well, I have to put an end to the idea of the catsuit on me," she said. "I'm 26 already, so I think those days are over."

The four-time Grand Slam winner and former world number one, who has collaborated with apparel maker Nike on designs for tennis clothing, offered insight into her fashion philosophy.

"I like to push the envelope a little bit but still maintain an elegant and classy look and appeal to girls that are playing Under 14s and junior tournaments, and appeal to ladies that are playing in a doubles league," she said.

"There's always a thin line because you have to create for different body shapes. It's fun. I really enjoy it."

She also keeps a keen eye on what her WTA rivals are wearing.

"I think it's fun to compare and critique -- and gossip about it!"

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