Indian Wells - Day Nine, the last of the WTA quarter finals, and first of the ATP quarter finals.
BNP Paribas Open - a WTA Premier Mandatory category tournament, on Hard Plexipave, in Indian Wells, California, USA, 4-17 March 2019.
Defending champion:
Naomi Osaka who defeated Dasha Kasatkina (20) 6-3 6-2
WTA quarter finals
- Belinda Bencic (23) v Karolina Pliskova (5)
Pliskova served first, and held comfortably, with two aces. Two winners from Bencic ended her service game, after being taken to deuce.
Pliskova, down 15-40, incurred the powerful backhand return of Bencic and found herself trailing 1-2.
Swiss consolidation came, highlighted by an ace and forehand winner.
Pliskova survived two double faults and trailed 2-3. Pliskova hit a forehand winner to produce two break back points, but saw them vanish and Bencic held for 4-2.
Pliskova served at 3-5 to stay in the set. Three Czech errors gave Bencic three set points. One was saved through a brilliant Pliskova forehand winner. A big serve saved a second. Bencic won the set on the third with a slashing forehand down the line. 6-3.
Pliskova was out of the blocks in set two in a flash, breaking Bencic in the first and third games with quality ground strokes and excellent defence. Deuce was visited four times, and three break points were saved before Pliskova held for 4-0, but Bencic was turning things back in her favour.
At 4-1, after missing a chance to break and lead 5-0, Pliskova missed three straight forward shots, and a Bencic forehand winner confirmed a break and 2-4. A love game from Switzerland and things tightened further.
A frustrated Bencic couldn’t convert either of two break chances in the next game and Pliskova was leading 5-3.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Pliskova saved a break point, but saw four set points disappear. Finally Pliskova won the set 6-4 when Bencic hit the net with her backhand.
In the decider, Bencic had two trips to deuce in the early stages, but no break points faced as she led 2-1. Then Pliskova waited 13 minutes, spent eight times at deuce, and saved four break points, before levelling at 2-2.
At 3-4, still on serve, Pliskova was again at the line. A forehand winner was a promising start for the fifth seed, but Bencic replied with a backhand winner, and a concentration lapse from Pliskova resulted in her stuffing up an easy put away. 15-30. Two break points after Pliskova’s backhand failed to make it over the net. A Czech forehand was wide and Bencic would serve for a semi final berth at 5-3.
A Swiss backhand winner for 30-15. Two match points following a Czech wide forehand. A repeat error and the match was over.
Belinda Bencic won 6-3 4-6 6-3.
- Angie Kerber (8) defeated Venus Williams 7-6(3) 6-3
Semi final match ups
Belinda Bencic (23) v Angie Kerber (8)
Wildcard Bianca Andreescu v Elina Svitolina (6)
BNP Paribas Open - an ATP Masters 1000 category tournament, on Hard Plexipave, in Indian Wells, California, USA, 4-17 March 2019.
Defending champion:
Juan Martin del Potro (6) who defeated Roger Federer (1) 6-4 6-7(8) 7-6(2)
ATP quarter finals
- Milos Raonic (13) defeated lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3 6-4
- Dominic Thiem (7) received a walkover from Gaël Monfils (18) and will play Milos Raonic (13) in the semis.
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