Indian Wells
Women’s 3rd Round
Ash Barty over Jennifer Brady
Brady had an impressive second round win over Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, running away with it 6-0 in the third. But Barty was equally impressive making quick work of Tatjana Maria in straight sets. Barty has more nuances in her game, as Brady is just a basher, and I think that’s what’s going to make the difference in their first encounter.
Qiang Wang over Elise Mertens
Mertens is a seasoned pro, and she used her experience and guile to overwhelm teenager Amanda Anisimova the other night in straight sets. Maybe it’s too soon to expect the New Jersey 17-year-old Anisimova to be able to take out someone of Mertens’ experience and stature, but she will very soon. Even though she lost, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that she looked gorgeous in her new “winter-like” long sleeved Nike outfit. Look out Anna Kournikova, here she comes. Anyway, Wang is not known well in the U.S., but she is the 18th seed here, and took out American Bernarda Pera in straight sets in her second round match after having received a bye in the first round. Now, they’re playing for a $91,205 payday by getting to the Round of 16 here, and I think Wang has too much game to lose to Mertens. Wang has won the two matches they’ve already played, including their second round clash here in the desert last year, and I think she’ll make it three in a row now. But both previous matches were in three sets, so this will be a battle and could be decided by just a few points here and there.
Angelique Kerber over Natalia Vikhlyantseva
Both of these players rolled over their second round opponents giving up only two games apiece. But Kerber is the 8th seed, and carries into this match over 600 career match wins and 16 years of professional experience. Vikhlyantseva is an appealing 22-year-old from Volograd, Russia, who is set to make waves. She’s 6’1”, and presents match-up problems for many of the women on the Tour. Nonetheless, if Kerber swings her left-handed serves down the T of the deuce court and wide to the add court, as she is wont to do, she can run away with this match. If she reverts to conservative serving, as I suspect, this match will be very close and will be enjoyable to watch.
Julia Goerges over Mona Barthel
Some players are so streaky that you never know what you’re going to see. When I saw the draw and saw that Barthel was going to play American Madison Keys in the second round, I laid off calling the match because Keys can be either a world-beater, or lame as a three-legged dog. Well, she was lame, and Barthel made her pay for it. Against Goerges, however, Barthel can’t rely on the talented German to self-destruct. Georges holds a 2-1 lifetime advantage over her 6’1” compatriot, and I think she’ll make it 3-1 here, as Goerges moves better than Barthel and limits her errors. In my opinion that steadiness will make the difference.
Christina Mchale over Venus Williams
Venus was fortunate to get past Petra Kvitova yesterday, as the 3rd seed simply self-destructed and didn’t show the form that she showed in January. Kvitova had the match in her hand and made mistake after mistake, and handed the match to the 38-year-old Williams. That won’t happen here. Mchale is an eager 26-year-old from New Jersey, with two great wins already this week. She took out Maria Sakkari in straight sets before upsetting 30th seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets in the second round. I expect Mchale to take another scalp here and look forward to the second week here in the desert.
Karolina Pliskova over Ysaline Bonaventure
Pliskova, who upset Serena Williams in the quarters in Melbourne, played spottily in her second round three-set victory over Misaki Doi, winning 6-7, 6-1, 6-1. If she plays poorly in this match she will go down to Bonaventure, who is riding four straight wins here, having qualified for the main draw. But she overcame American Taylor Townsend in the first round, and upset 28th seeded Donna Vekic in the second, after having lost the first set 6-1. Bonaventure has confidence going into this match, but if Pliskova plays the way she is capable, this match won’t last too long.
Naomi Osaka over Danielle Collins
Danielle Collins, the two-time NCAA champion out of the University of Virginia, does not lack confidence. As one of the commentators of The Tennis Channel said yesterday, “Collins is seeded 25th here and wonders why there are 24 women seeded ahead of her!” Confidence is great, and it helped her when she was down 4-1 in the first set to Kristen Flipkens and reeled off 12 of the next 13 games to move into this third round clash with the world’s No. 1, Osaka. The thing is, Osaka plays a very similar game to Collins and is just better at it. They both hit a ton, but Collins will miss and then scold herself. Osaka might miss, but when she does she smiles and chuckles, and then gathers herself to hit a winner on the next point. After having taken out Kristina Mladenovic last night, Osaka will roll over Collins and move on.