INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)— Pinataob ni Andy Murray si Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, sa isang two-hour baseline slugfest sa ilalim ng matinding sikat ng araw sa BNP Paribas Open.
Dalawang breaks lamang ang nakuha ni Murray sa third set at sinelyuhan ang panalo nang lumabas ang forehand ni Kohlschreiber, isa sa 35 unforced errors ng German. Tumaas ang temperatura sa 90 degrees, kakaibang init sa bahaging ito ngayong taon.
Ang pabagu-bagong temperatura, kundisyon ng korte, at bilis ng bola sa disyerto ay nakaapekto kay Murray.
“When you are playing in those matches during the heat of the day, you need to trust your shots. You need to go after them, because if you back off and try and sort of guide the ball in these conditions, it doesn’t work,” sinabi nito. “During the day it’s ridiculous how high the balls bounce and how quick they move through the air and jump off the court.”
FL Liza Araneta-Marcos, nanguna sa pagbubukas ng ilang atraksyon sa Intramuros
Umusad si Murray sa kanyang fourth-round match laban kay Adrian Mannarino, na tinalo naman ang 14th-seeded na si Ernests Gulbis, 6-4, 6-4.
Nasubukan naman ang fifth-seeded na si Kei Nishikori sa tatlong set bago natalo si Fernando Verdasco, 6-7 (8), 6-1, 6-4. Dalawang beses na nag-double fault si Nishikori sa final game bago nakaabante sa fourth round sa unang pagkakataon sa kanyang ikapitong appearance sa Indian Wells.
“Third set, it could go both ways, but I got first break,” sabi ni Nishikori. “I really served well. Until last game I didn’t face break points. It was still close the last game, so really happy to beat Fernando.”
Samantala, tinalo ni John Isner ang 18th-seeded na si Kevin Anderson, 7-6 (8), 6-2, upang isaayos ang posibleng fourth-round match laban kay top-ranked Novak Djokovic na nakaharap si Albert Ramos-Vinolas sa night match.
Sa panig ng kababaihan, natalo ang dating Indian Wells winner at No. 4 seed na si Caroline Wozniacki ng 31st-seed na si Belinda Bencic, 6-4, 6-4, isang linggo matapos makopo ng Dane ang kanyang ika-23 career singles titles sa Kuala Lumpur.
Nakuha ni Bencic ang kanyang unang panalo laban sa isang top-five player at sa edad na 18, naging pinakabatang manlalaro na nakatuntong sa fourth round ngayong taon. Noong nakaraang taon, sa Istanbul, nabigo si Bencic na manalo sa game off niya kontra kay Wozniacki.
“In Istanbul I had maybe too much respect and I was afraid, nervous,” saad nito. “Today I really had a good game plan. I served well kind of, and had sometimes some easy points on my serve because of that.”
Si Jelena Jankovic, na nanalo rito noong 2010 at gumugol ng 18 linggo bilang No. 1 sa mundo, ay nalampasan si Madison Keys, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, sa kabila ng 13 winners lamang ng Serb at 42 unforced errors.
Tinalo naman ng qualifier na si Lesia Tsurenko ang 20th-seeded na si Alize Cornet, 7-5, 1-6, 6-3, habang napatalsik ni Eugenie Bouchard si CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-3, 6-2, para umusad sa fourth round.
“I felt very solid,” ani Bouchard. “That’s important against a player who can have big weapons. She had some great serves and some great forehands. I was going to try to neutralize that and take my chances when I had them.”
