Carreno Busta and Wawrinka into semi

The two men's semi finalists determined on Day 11 at Indian Wells both worked hard to reach the final four.

In a battle of the Pablos, Spain's Carreno Busta initially wiped the court with Uruguayan Cuevas,  in set one winning 75% of points on his own serve, while taking 55% of those with the South American at the line.

Cuevas had beaten Carreno Busta in the São Paulo semi finals just a fortnight ago (en route to winning the title), so this looked like the perfect revenge.

Cuevas lifted markedly in set two with a return of the Brazil form, pressuring Carreno Busta into error and levelling the match at 1-6 6-3.

In a riveting third set, the two exchanged one service break each before Carreno Busta faced the first match point at 4-5 30-40.  In a most committed fashion, Cuevas dived for a backhand, with no care that this was a hard court.  Carreno Busta saved the point with a regulation smash, and Cuevas for his effort received bloody knees and fingers.

Another match pint in the twelfth game was saved by Carreno Busta who proceeded to win the tie break 7-4 and the match 6-1 3-6 7-6.

Now a semi finalist, Pablo Carreno Busta had never previously made it past the third round of a Masters tournament.

Pablo will have to navigate past reigning US Open champ Stan Wawrinka, if he is to make the final.

Stan took three sets to finally have the better of Dominic Thiem.  

It wasn't an ideal start for Wawrinka, dropping serve in the opening game of the match, but he hit back immediately and the two played a high standard after that, apart from Thiem's deplorable first serve percentage, which he somehow managed to overcome.

Until the tenth game, where Stan pounced.  6-4 and Thiem under real pressure.

The Austrian response was expected and effective.  The first serve percentage was back with a vengeance, so much so that Thiem did not face a single break point for set two.  Instead it was Wawrinka who was placed under the spotlight - not that his level of tennis had dropped appreciably.

This match deserved to go three sets, and Thiem worked over the Swiss serve in the third game of the second set to force the decider.

Wawrinka won the first three games of set three but Thiem fought back again to level at 3-3.  No more service breaks for the match, although both players won some critical points which may have saved them.  In fact Thiem saved a match point at 5-6 and pushed the match into a tie break.

Stan played the tie break with far more composure and patience, and the relative inexperience of Thiem showed in the high pressure situation.

Wawrinka took the tie break 7-2 and the quarter final 6-4 4-6 7-6. 

Mladenovic and Vesnina impress

Day 11 ticket holders at Indian Wells received value for money as all four quarter finals played went the distance, two of the matches decided with a tie break.

First up Kristina Mladenovic had to break a few personal records in her battle against Caroline Wozniacki.  The. French 28th seed had never beaten Wozniacki in their previous three meetings, and had never reached a semi final in a Premier Mandatory tournament.

After six games history was repeating itself with the Danish former world number one leading 5-1, having saved seven break points.  Wozniacki only had two chances and converted both.  Mladenovic did eventually break the 14th seed, just once from ten attempts, losing the set 6-3 but well and truly competitive.

Wozniacki broke early in set two, but both players always looked more secure when receiving and so it didn't surprise that each dropped serve three times on the way to a tie break.  Mladenovic won the tie break 7-4 and dominated the match from that point.  

Whatever happens now, Kristina Mladenovic will enter the world top twenty for the first time after this tournament.  Her 3-6 7-6 6-2 win has earned a semi final against Elema Vesnina.

Vesnina also achieved her first semi final at a Premier Mandatory event, and had to defeat Venus Williams in the process.  Armed with the knowledge of a positive head to head record against the Aus Open finalist, Vesnina started with a bang, taking full advantage of a sluggish Williams.  Once the first three games were in her tennis bag, the Russian 14th seed rode the momentum through to a 6-2 first set thrashing.

Instead of carefully playing her way back into the match, Venus began attacking, trusting her forehand which has brought her such success throughout her career.  Vesnina now had serious competition with which to deal, and to a certain extent she managed.  However, her reliance on second serves couldn't carry the burden for the whole set and Williams' weight of winning and error creating shots was reflected on the scoreboard 6-4.

Venus broke Elena in the opening game of the decider before the Russian took over, winning five of the next six games, and having three match points on the Venus serve in game eight.  Williams saved all three and forced Vesnina to serve out the match.

In an enthralling game, Elena was down 0-40 but saved all three break points, plus another three after that. Eventually it was Vesnina who happily held onto her serve to win 

6-2 4-6 6-3.

 

The women's semi finals are now decided:

Karolina Pliskova v Svetlana Kuznetsova 

Kristina Mladenovic v Elena Vesnina

Pliskova and Kuznetsova into semis

The first semi finalists have been decided in the women's BNP Paribas Open draw in Indian Wells, California.

An all Russian match up saw eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova displaying some of the tennis that won her Grand Slam titles in 2004 and 2009.  Winning all but one of the points on her first serve in set one, Sveta ensured that Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was under pressure from the start.

The two break points created were both converted, in the first and last games of the set, and 6-3 was the result.

Pavlyuchenkova broke straight away in set two but Kuznetsova didn't appreciate the two game deficit and so denied Pavlyuchenkova another game.  The 6-3 6-2 victory shot Sveta into her first Indian Wells semi final since 2008, and avenged losses in the past two meetings with Pavlyuchenkova.

The second quarter final featured Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza.  

In each of the two sets, Pliskova grabbed the initiative and appeared certain to take advantage of leads in both.

However, Muguruza fought back strongly from 1-4 in set one, often using her confidence to come to the net and finish rallies.  A tie break eventuated, and this is where Pliskova reasserted control, rushing through 7-2 and taking a set lead.

Muguruza fell behind in set two and Pliskova led 5-2 with two service breaks.  Serving for the match, the Czech third seed was struck by a Spanish response highlighted by brilliant attacking tennis.  One of the breaks was retrieved, and Pliskova failed in her second attempt to serve it out.

Another tie break was required, and sadly an engrossing battle was stopped when at 5-6 Muguruza served a double fault.

Pliskova won a terrific match and for the second successive year reached the semi finals of Indian Wells.

Men's quarter finals were decided and for the second time in their two meetings, Nick Kyrgios has beaten Novak Djokovic, preventing the number two seed from defending his title.

Kyrgios now has the chance to defeat Roger Federer, who had a surprisingly easy win over Rafa Nadal.

Other quarter final matches will be:

Pablo Carreno Busta v Pablo Cuevas 

Stan Wawrinka v Dominic Thiem

Jack Sock v Kei Nishikori 

Djokovic all class

The second Tuesday of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells served up an embarrassment of riches, especially the men's third round matches.

Although Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer were on display, it wasn't the Australian Open finalists who provided the greatest tennis delights.

Rafa certainly continued his fine vein of form with a straight sets victory over fellow Spanish mate Fernando Verdasco, while Federer found things much tougher, unable to break the Steve Johnson serve, and relying on his excellent tie break record to win, also in two sets.

It will be another Nadal Federer clash, this time much earlier in the round of sixteen.

Taylor Fritz joined Johnson as another American to bow out, a three set loser to Tunisian Malek Jaziri.

Better news for locals came from the racquets of Donald Young and Jack Sock. Young followed up his win over Sam Querrey by eliminating 14th seed Lucas Pouille, while Sock came back from a break down in the third set to end the hopes of Grigor Dimitrov (12).

Fourth seed Kei Nishikori sliced his way through another opponent, only prepared to donate four games to Gilles Muller, and will play Young in the fourth round.

The two matches which stood way above the rest were old hands Djokovic v del Potro and young guns Kyrgios v Zverev.

Zverev did some good things, mostly in the second set, but the way Kyrgios was serving, not many players could have touched the Australian.  He never faced a break point, but dominated the German who was heavily reliant on his second serve.

The warning to others on the tour was that other parts of the Kyrgios game, especially his volleying, were as sharp as they have been for some time.

The second set was a much closer contest, and the break only came in the final game of the match.

Djokovic and del Potro are proven performers at the highest level, and they did nothing to diminish their reputations in another match full of class and breathtaking shots.  

Djokovic opened proceedings by dropping his serve, but from that point the first set was his.  Ahead 7-5, the Serb momentum was halted by an Argentine comeback and the second set was vintage tennis from the pair.  del Potro grabbed two breaks of serve from the few chances available and levelled the match.

Three sets was appropriate.

Djokovic stepped it up in the decider and attacked relentlessly,  pulling off some of the finest shots of the tournament.  He broke twice more and faced no break points himself, to win his way into the fourth round 7-5 4-6 6-1.

A second clash with Nick Kyrgios within a fortnight awaits.

Indian Wells reaches 4th round

The final sixteen in the women's draw have been decided in Indian Wells and the first half of the men's third round matches have been completed.

Angie Kerber almost joined Andy Murray as a top seed on the scrap heap, but recovered from a break down in the third set to escape against France's Pauline Parmentier.

Her expected semi final opponent, fourth seed Simona Halep, was not so fortunate.  In only her second match since returning from a knee injury suffered in St Petersburg in February, Halep wasted 19 of 22 break points against Kristina Mladenovic and lost in straight sets.

Also leaving the tournament was sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who has had a terrible 2017 apart from making the final in Sydney in January.  Her loss to China's Shuai Peng was her 6th from 13 starts this year.

Impressive wins were recorded by Madison Keys, playing her first tournament this year and Caroline Wozniacki, and their fourth round encounter should be a highlight.  Venus Williams and Lauren Davis ensured that, with Keys, three Americans will feature in the last sixteen.  Their wins over Safarova and Goerges were comprehensive.

After his impressive win over Andy Murray, Vasek Pospisil failed to back it up and fell to fellow qualifier Dusan Lajovic over three sets.  Roberto Bautista Agut had to withdraw before his match with Pablo Carreno Busta and Yoshihito Nishioka continued to make use of his lucky lose  entry by knocking out another seed.  

Tomas Berdych was the victim on this occasion and he will be kicking himself, letting a 6-1 5-2 lead slip.  Nishioka saved a match point in the tenth game of set two before proceeding to a 1-6 7-6 6-4 success.

Next for the Japanese player is third seed Stan Wawrinka, who overcame Philipp Kohlschreiber. 

Monfils, Thiem and Goffin also booked fourth round spots.

Cibulkova d Kr Pliskova in thriller

Daylight saving began on the West Coast, and the stars came out to greet the moment at the BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California.

Novak Djokovic needed to bring most of his best in order to quell a determined and quality performance from Kyle Edmund.  The second seed won in straight sets but the first set was only decided by a service break in the opening game, and the second set went to a tie break.

Things don't become any easier for Novak, his third round opponent being Juan Martin del Potro.  Delpo defeated fellow Argentine Federico Delbonis to set up a replay of the Acapulco clash just over a week ago.

Nadal, Nishikori, Federer and Kyrgios all had comfortable victories, but sixth seed Marin Cilic fell to young American wildcard Taylor Fritz after winning the first set.

Not so good for another American, Sam Querrey, who suffered a let down following his Acapulco triumph, losing to Donald Young.  At least for local fans, the loss was to another American.

Third round women's matches mostly went to plan, with Karolina Pliskova (3) finding a way past Irina-Camelia Begu, in spite of herself.  The wonderful serve was broken three times, and placed Pliskova in precarious positions throughout the match.  Fortunately for her, Begu gave back enough opportunities, including 17 break points, only four of which were converted, enough though for victory.

Svitolina, Muguruza and Kuznetsova won with varying degrees of difficulty, but 11th seed Johanna Konta failed her French test, and Caroline Garcia said au revoir.

The best tennis was saved for the last match of the night, with the remaining crowd treated to one of the finest matches of 2017.

Kristyna  Pliskova, yet to achieve the heights of her sister, but improving all the while, began her match against fifth seed Dominika Cibulkova as if she was the world number three.

Winning all but one point on her first serve, and consistently outplaying Cibulkova in their exchanges with punishing ground strokes, Pliskova broke twice and wrapped up the first set in a flash.

The left handed sister was ahead 5-3 in set two and preparing, it seemed, for fourth round action against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, when Cibulkova said no.  With her renowned Slovak grit and basic tennis smarts, Domi reduced the potency of the Czech serve and gained control of more rallies.  The break back occurred and a tie break too.

Cibulkova won the tie break, and the third set was stirring stuff.  Cibulkova broke early but Pliskova struck back immediately and then it was service holds from both until 4-5. Cibulkova, serving to stay in the match, had a number of game points but was thwarted on each occasion before Pliskova gained a match point.

It was saved and eventually the fifth seed levelled at 5-5.

Cibulkova broke to lead 6-5, but couldn't serve it out, and another tie break resulted.

Eventually it was Dominika Cibulkova, who prevailed on the third of her match points.

2-6 7-6(5) 7-6(5)

Kristyna Pliskova hit 54 winners and Dominika Cibulkova 41.

However the killer statistic was the 23 break points for Pliskova, 18 of which were saved by Cibulkova, who proved that she can win when perhaps she shouldn't.

Irrespective, this was just the third round and it felt like a match at the end of the tournament such was the quality.

Tsonga and Murray out

So much for all the action happening in the bottom half of the draw at Indian Wells.

The second round men's matches began with the top half, and these included sixteen seeded players afforded first round byes.

Two seeds fell straight away - Feliciano Lopez (30) to qualifier Dusan Lajovic and Ivo Karlovic (19) to lucky loser in qualifying Yoshihito Nishioka.

David Goffin (11) and Gael Monfils (10) both surrendered a set in their matches before booking third round appointments, and Stan Wawrinka (3) shrugged off a run of poor form to easily join them.

However the shocks came with the two players expected to meet in the quarter finals.

After a semi final in Montpellier and successive titles in Rotterdam and Marseille, seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was sent packing by Italian Fabio Fognini in a three set thriller.  After levelling the match with a convincing 6-3 second set, Tsonga traded a string of service breaks with Fognini but dropped one too many and now just has the doubles on which to concentrate.

Top seed Andy Murray, whose Aus Open fourth round exit was less than acceptable, can add the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells to his list of disappointments.  Dubai success quickly forgotten now as world number 129 and qualifier Vasek Pospisil proved more than a match for the Scot in two sets 7-6 6-4.

The advantage of the lighter side of the draw now belongs to Stan Wawrinka should he continue finding his best form.

Interesting combinations have developed in the doubles tournament, not least Rafa Nadal and Bernard Tomic.  Tomic has already lost his opening round singles to an American qualifier, extending his losing run to five, and once more bringing into question his attitude, something never asked of Nadal.

The odd couple won its opening round against Carreno-Busta and Sousa.

Eight women's seeds lost their first matches, all second round encounters.  None of the highest seeds departed (Samantha Stosur at 16 the most prominent exit),  although Karolina Pliskova (3) and Elina Svitolina (10) both had to recover from first set losses.  Pliskova was a break down against Monica Puig in the decider before surging to victory.

Venus Williams (12) needed to save three match points against former world number one Jelena Jankovic, before squeezing through a second set tie break to square the match.  Once level this year's Aus Open finalist raced away with the match 1-6 7-6 6-1.

Tomorrow is star studded with the first matches for Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, del Potro, Nishikori, Dimitrov, and third round challenges for Pliskova (both sisters), Cibulkova, Muguruza, Kuznetsova, Svitolina and Konta.