Federer beats Isner to win Indian Wells title

Updated March 19, 2012 12:18:46

World number three Roger Federer beat John Isner 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 in the Indian Wells final Sunday to capture his third tournament in a row and a record fourth Indian Wells title.

Federer has been battling a flu bug all week and said he was close to pulling out of Indian Wells. It limited his practice time early in the event but he said he was feeling much better after beating American 11th seed Isner.

"Sometimes just have to play a bit sick," said Federer, who earned $943,000 for the victory. "I am happy to come through at the end. It makes me really happy beating the best.

"I've really played amazing these last three matches in particular. I couldn't be more happy. They were really great wins."

One of the hottest players on the ATP Tour, Federer has now captured three consecutive events after winning back-to-back finals in Rotterdam and Dubai.

The Swiss star's fourth Indian Wells title is one more than the old mark he had shared with Jimmy Connors and Michael Chang.

He clinched Sunday's contest on the first match point when Isner smacked a forehand into the net.

Federer's road to the finals included wins over hard-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, Brazilian number one Thomaz Bellucci, former US Open champ Juan Martin del Potro and Spanish rival Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.

"Honestly, I never looked one match ahead of me," Federer said.

"I thought del Potro was going to be extremely difficult. Once I got through that one, I only thought of the Nadal match.

"So for me, maybe mentally because of what happened, it was a bit of an easier tournament.

"I played with an attitude that I can only win here. I don't favor myself because I have not felt great. It would be a surprise to come through.

"That's how it feels now. I was able to come through, and so convincingly at the end is amazing. I've really played amazing these last three matches."

Federer also avenged a loss to Isner earlier this year in Davis Cup play.

On Sunday, Federer and Isner held serve in the second set until Federer finally broke the American in the seventh game to take a crucial 4-3 lead. Federer hit a backhand straight at Isner, who tried a drop shot on his backhand but it hit the net.

Federer won four of five points on his serve in the next game to take a 5-3 lead and then broke Isner again in the final game.

He has compiled a 22-2 ATP Tour record this season and has now won 15 matches in a row since losing to Isner in Davis Cup.

The only people to have beaten him on the court this year are Nadal and Isner and he defeated both of them in Indian Wells. France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won in a walkover over Federer in January at Doha.

Federer has been on a blistering pace this season and is showing no signs of slowing down. He cannot afford to if he is going to catch world number one Novak Djokovic.

"For the moment, Novak is the best player," Federer said. "A lot has to happen for me to come through. I am playing well and I have won six of the last eight events I have played."

Another goal of Federer's is winning at the London Olympics, which begin in just over four months.

Asked if he could pick one thing to win this year, he replied, "to win the Olympic gold. Why not, right? But it is going to be lot of hard work."

Isner's path to the final included a semi-final upset of Djokovic.

Isner, who was leading the tournament in aces heading into the final, hit just four aces against Federer. He also had one double fault and won just 47 per cent of his second-serve points.

Isner said when he looks back on the tournament, it was a good experience to reach his first Indian Wells final.

"I certainly played well all week and obviously today it did not go my way," he said. "I don't really feel like I necessarily played my best, but that's what Roger does.

"I mean, if I have any shot to beat him I'm going to have to play my best. That wasn't the case today. He was too strong."

AFP

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First posted March 19, 2012 10:18:59

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Azarenka routs Sharapova to win Indian Wells

Updated March 19, 2012 10:21:36

World number one Victoria Azarenka clinched her fourth title of the year with a 6-2,6-3 demolition of an error-prone Maria Sharapova in the final of the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Monday (AEDT).

On a cold and blustery day, the Belarusian broke Sharapova's serve twice in the opening set and four times in the second to seal a commanding victory in one hour, 26 minutes on the showpiece stadium court.

Although Azarenka faced a little more resistance from Sharapova late in the second set, she held off the Russian's fightback and ended the match with a probing backhand which forced a desperate lob from her opponent that floated long.

The Australian Open champion dropped her racket in delight and set off on a running jig in the direction of the players' box after improving her record this year to 23-0, the best start to a WTA Tour season since 1997.

Swiss Martina Hingis recorded 37 consecutive victories to launch her 1997 campaign with Azarenka next best on 23 and American Serena Williams in third, with 21 in 2003.

"I was just trying to do my best because I know Maria is a fighter," a beaming Azarenka said in a courtside interview. "I always tried to stay focused and apply as much pressure as I can.

"I never dreamed about that," she added of her perfect start to the season. "It's amazing and I'm just so glad that I have been able to be consistent and disciplined and professional every day."

Azaranka, who won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open in January with a straight sets victory over Sharapova, broke the Russian in the first game of the match when her opponent pushed a backhand wide.

Fragile serve

Sharapova had to work hard to hold her notoriously fragile serve in the third game, double-faulting to trail 15-40 before saving three break points for 1-2.

The Russian was again broken in the seventh, netting a forehand to go 15-40 down before Azarenka won the game on the next point with a rasping forehand winner after a lengthy baseline rally.

Azarenka then comfortably held to clinch the opening set in 39 minutes after a Sharapova forehand service return flew long. The Russian challenged the baseline call but the Hawk-Eye ball tracking system confirmed it was good.

Sharapova's serving woes continued in the first game of the second set when she again failed to hold, the Sharapova blasting a forehand wide for Azarenka to lead 0-1.

The frustrated Russian was also broken in the third, Azarenka ending another protracted rally with a sizzling forehand winner down the line to lead 3-0.

Unexpectedly, the pony-tailed Azarenka was broken for the first time in the fourth after Sharapova clawed her way back from 40-15 down, winning the game with a fierce forehand service return which forced an Azarenka error from the baseline.

However Sharapova once again failed to hold serve in the fifth, blasting a forehand long to trail 1-4.

Azarenka also lost serve in the sixth when Sharapova followed a forehand crosscourt winner with a crunching backhand winner down the line, pumping her left fist in celebration.

Though Sharapova finally held for the first time in the set in the seventh, Azarenka won the next two games to improve her career record to 5-3 over the Russian.

Reuters

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First posted March 19, 2012 08:08:43

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Stosur, Ebden advance at Indian Wells

Updated March 11, 2012 14:51:03

Sixth seed Samantha Stosur has breezed past American wildcard Irina Falconi 6-0, 6-3 in her second round match at the WTA/ATP Indian Wells tournament.

Australia's number one will face Nadia Petrova in the third round after she also progressed in straight sets beating Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-2.

Her win capped a good day for Australian tennis after Matthew Ebden scored an upset victory over Frenchman Julien Benneteau 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Ebden, who is the world number 91 - 58 places below Benneteau - will face Mardy Fish in the third round.

Defending champion and world number Novak Djokovic defeated qualifier Andrey Golubev 6-3, 6-2 in a second-round match.

Djokovic moved through to the third round, where he will face South African Kevin Anderson, who won in a walkover when German Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew earlier in the day.

"It was a good start," Djokovic said.

"We didn't play a beautiful match. There were a lot of unforced errors but it was the opening match and I am still trying to adjust to this court and get used to the conditions. Hopefully the next match will be better."

World number one Djokovic, who came into Indian Wells last year riding a win streak that he eventually stretched to 41 matches, is now 11-1 on the season.

Elsewhere, former world number one Ana Ivanovic avenged last year's first round loss at Roland Garros by routing Johanna Larsson in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.

Ivanovic broke Larsson's serve five times, including three times in the opening set. She had three aces and four double faults and posted a 67 per cent success rate on first-serve points in the centre-court match.

Four years ago, Ivanovic won at Indian Wells then went on to capture the French Open title.

Ivanovic advances to the third round, where she will face either Peng Shuai or Ksenia Pervak.

AAP/AFP

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First posted March 11, 2012 13:03:25

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Stosur exits Indian Wells

Updated March 13, 2012 17:06:48

US Open champion Sam Stosur made a premature exit at the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Tuesday (AEDT).

Sixth-seeded Stosur lost a see-sawing third round encounter with Russian Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-7, 7-6 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, before Sharapova finally wrapped up a 6-3, 6-4 win against Romania's Simona Halep on the fifth match point.

Australian Stosur was broken by Petrova when serving for the match at 6-5 in the third set and the Russian capitalised by holding her serve and sealing a hard-fought victory 7-5 in the tiebreak.

Stosur had been swept aside by her big-serving opponent in the opening set and then saved one match point in the second set tiebreak before clawing her way back to level the match.

Petrova, beaten 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 by Stosur at last year's US Open in the tournament's longest women's match of the tie-break era, squealed with delight after the Australian pushed a forehand wide to end an encounter lasting nearly three hours.

"I am very excited to be back," a beaming Petrova said in a courtside interview after beating Stosur for the fifth time in seven meetings.

"This is only my third win of the year and you could see it when I was just about to close the match. I was a bit tentative.

"My serve was working incredibly (well) until the end of the second set," added the Russian, who fired down 15 aces in the match. "At the end, it was just spot on."

Petrova, who raised both arms skywards to celebrate her fifth successive appearance in the fourth round at Indian Wells, was delighted to gain a measure of revenge for her defeat at last year's US Open.

New York turnaround

"After that loss in New York it's been hard," said the 29-year-old Russian, a winner of 10 WTA Tour titles. "I wanted to turn everything around. I wanted to win and walk off the court with a 'W'.

"It was a tough battle in the third set, and I was really pumped when I broke her at 6-5. When she was serving for the match. I was pumped. I knew this was my time to win the match."

The Russian, once ranked as high as third in the world but has now slipped to 33rd, will next meet compatriot Maria Kirilenko, who beat Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Sharapova, the 2006 champion, led Halep 6-3 and 5-0 before inexplicably losing her way. The Romanian held for 1-5 and the Russian then squandered three match points on serve before being broken in the seventh and ninth games.

After several protracted baseline rallies punctuated by squeals and grunts by both players, Sharapova finally sealed victory on her fifth match point when Halep netted a backhand.

"I started rushing and playing long in the second set," said Sharapova, who will next face Italy's Roberta Vinci, a 6-7, 6-0, 6-4 winner against Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova. "Things weren't going my way and it was really tough but I pulled through."

In other matches, seventh-seed Marion Bartoli of France pummeled South African Chanelle Scheepers 6-2, 6-0 and Czech Lucie Safarova advanced when former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone became another victim of the widespread viral infection at Indian Wells.

The 10th-seeded Schiavone, who won her only grand slam singles title at Roland Garros in 2010, withdrew because of a stomach virus when trailing Safarova 2-6.

Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark is scheduled to play Swede Sofia Arvidsson in the third round later on Tuesday (AEDT).

Reuters

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First posted March 13, 2012 08:14:23

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Dokic pulls out at Indian Wells

Updated March 09, 2012 17:39:55

Australian Jelena Dokic lasted just nine minutes in her opening-round match at Indian Wells before withdrawing due to a wrist injury.

Her withdrawal sent Argentine opponent Gisela Dulko straight through to a second-round match-up with number two seed Maria Sharapova.

In the men's draw Australian Matthew Ebden triumphed 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in his opening match against Russian Igor Kunitsyn.

Elsewhere wildcard Sam Querrey defeated fellow American Tim Smyczek 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, Poland's Lukasz Kubot beat Ivo Karlovic, of Croatia, 6-4, 6-2 and Italy's Andreas Seppi rallied to defeat Olivier Rochus, of Belgium 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Irina Falconi and Johanna Larsson also advanced to the women's second round thanks to opponents retiring injured.

Sweden's Larsson was 4-1 ahead in the first set when qualifier Greta Arn of Hungary retired from their match with a neck injury.

Larsson will face former world number one Ana Ivanovic, who is seeded 15th, in the next round.

Arn reached the third round of the Australian Open and the semi-finals in Monterrey, Mexico, last month, where she lost to Romania's Alexandra Cadantu.

American wildcard Falconi advanced after Alexandra Dulgheru withdrew from their match with a right knee injury.

Dulgheru won the first set 6-4 and was trailing 5-2 in the second when she pulled the plug.

Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson swept past Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in her opening match 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).

The 28-year-old Arvidsson kept her unforced errors down to a minimum and won 65 per cent of her second serve points in the one hour, 55 minute match.

ABC/AFP

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First posted March 09, 2012 17:39:55

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Kvitova dumped out of Indian Wells

Updated March 12, 2012 14:46:27

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova became the highest seed to exit the Indian Wells WTA tournament after a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 loss to American teenager Christina McHale in the third round.

The third-seeded Czech breezed through the opening set at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden but errors began creeping into her game and her 19-year-old opponent took control.

McHale, making her third appearance in the elite event, broke Kvitova in the fourth game of the final set and again in the eighth when the Czech finished with successive double faults.

Serving for the match at 5-3, McHale burst into a 40-0 lead and then sealed victory at the first opportunity, ending a lengthy rally with a delicate sliced backhand into the front court.

Meanwhile, Men's third seed Roger Federer defeated wild card Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-1 in the second round of the ATP/WTA Indian Wells tournament on Sunday.

Federer hammered eight aces and won 79 percent of his first serve points in the 57 minute night match on centre court.

Federer advances to the third round where he will face Canadian Milos Raonic, who beat Carlos Berlocq in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.

Reuters/AFP

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First posted March 12, 2012 14:12:59

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Matosevic falls in Indian Wells

Updated March 12, 2012 11:31:43

World number nine Juan Martin Del Potro posted an opening win over Australia's Marinko Matosevic to reach the third round of the ATP/WTA Indian Wells event, which has been hard hit by a stomach virus epidemic.

Argentina's Del Potro defeated the world number 129 Matosevic 7-5, 6-2.

Frenchman Gael Monfils was the highest-profile victim of the illness - which tournament officials were quick to say had nothing to do with their food service - withdrawing before his match with Nikolay Davyenko.

The Russian went on to defeat German lucky loser Bjorn Phau 7-5, 6-2.

Monfils was one of six players who have either pulled out or quit a match in the past several days due to the illness.

The tournament organisers found medical evidence for their theory that food service is not involved.

On court, Germans split the difference, with women's 14th seed Julia Goerges beating Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-3, 6-4 to next play either top seed Victoria Azarenka, who downed two-time finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-2.

In men's play, Spaniard Marcel Granollers beat German veteran Tommy Haas 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Granollers will next face compatriot and world number two Rafael Nadal, who routed Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-1, 6-3.

AAP

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First posted March 12, 2012 11:23:44

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Nadal, Federer ease through at Indian Wells

Updated March 12, 2012 23:25:28

Twice champion Rafa Nadal and triple winner Roger Federer barely raised a sweat as they each cruised into the third round of the Indian Wells tournament with imperious victories on Monday (AEDT).

Spaniard Nadal ruthlessly dealt with Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 6-3 before Swiss maestro Federer eased past American wild card Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-1 in the evening session at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Left-hander Nadal, who has reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells in his last six appearances, broke Mayer twice in each set to wrap up a commanding win in one hour, 15 minutes.

In dazzling afternoon sunshine, the match ended when a Mayer forehand sailed wide and Nadal removed his green headband in triumph as the near-capacity crowd erupted in applause.

"It's nice to be back playing at the very good level," the Spaniard, who will next face compatriot Marcel Granollers, told reporters. "Winning is the most important thing.

"It's not easy to be back after a while without competition, but I did really well. I started the match very focused, very aggressive. I'm very happy about almost everything."

Nadal, who dominated Mayer with his crunching ground strokes from behind the baseline, had not competed since he lost an epic Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic in January.

The world number two enjoys a superb record at Indian Wells where he won the title in 2007 and 2009 and was beaten in last year's final by Serb Djokovic.

Love affair

"This is a tournament that I love," said the 25-year-old from Mallorca. "I enjoy a lot playing this tournament. Always in my career I've had good success here. I have played very good matches."

Granollers had earlier booked his place in the third round with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win against Germany's Tommy Haas.

World number three Federer, who is shaking off a flu bug and slight temperature, broke Kudla twice in the opening set and three times in the second to wrap up a one-sided victory in under an hour.

"I'm always relieved and happy when I am able to find my way into a tournament, see where you're at," said the 16-times grand slam champion, whose entire family has been sick.

"It's a good start for me. I didn't know Kudla very much, or at all really, so it was a good win for me. I'm looking forward to what's next."

Federer, who won three consecutive titles at Indian Wells from 2004, next faces towering Canadian Milos Raonic, a 6-4, 6-2 winner against Argentina's Carlos Berlocq.

Asked how he felt health-wise, Federer replied: "I have a bit of a combination (of flu and a cold). Not a terrible temperature, but I have some things going on. But I'm the best off in my family... the rest of them are struggling much more."

In other matches, fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer crushed Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2, David Nalbandian of Argentina battled past Croat Marin Cilic 7-6, 7-6 and Serb Janko Tipsarevic beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-4, 6-2.

Sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced when fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra retired hurt because of a knee injury when trailing 4-1.

The big-serving Tsonga will next face Czech Radek Stepanek, who crushed Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-2, 6-1.

Reuters

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First posted March 12, 2012 23:18:48

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