Novak Djokovic Shocked In Indian Wells - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

(Indian Wells, First Week)

Sachia Vickery beat third-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza 2-6 7-5 6-1

Amanda Anisimova beat ninth-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-4

Yuki Bhambri beat ninth-seeded Lucas Pouille 6-4 6-3

Taro Daniel beat 10^th-seeded Novak Djokovic 7-6 (3) 4-6 6-1

SAYING

“(We are) having to play each other in the third round, one of us is going to be gone. I would prefer to play someone else, anybody else, literally anybody else, but it has to happen now. So it is what it is.” – Serena Williams, on playing her sister Venus at the BNP Paribas Open.

“Who else has played each other over 20 years in the professional game? To have one player have a 20-year career is crazy, but to have two players from the same family born 15 months apart do what they’ve done is mind-boggling.” – Pam Shriver, Hall of Fame player who is now a commentator.

“The only thing I want is to try to get that confidence back, get that rhythm on the court. I’ve only played four matches in nine months. So I’m really looking forward to start playing again without pain.” – Novak Djokovic

“The question marks surrounding his defeat today will only grow larger.” – Jim Courier, Tennis Channel commentator and Hall of Famer, on Novak Djokovic’s second-round defeat.

“It’s been over a year and a kid later.” – Serena Williams, winning her first match at Indian Wells in her return to the WTA tour.

“I mean, she looked like she never lost a step. Great way to come back.” – Venus Williams, talking about her sister after Serena won her first match.

“I have no pressure going onto the court, and all I can think about is having fun. That’s definitely an advantage.” – Amanda Anisimova, after upsetting Petra Kvitova.

“It’s unfortunate and it’s not a great time, but it’s part of life and I’m still 28 years old and recently there are number ones over 30, so I’m OK with that. I’m still young.” – Victoria Azarenka, who has been unable to leave California and join the WTA tour because of a court battle over her young son.

“I sort of just want to focus on myself and what I have to do, because I feel like everyone from now – well, for me even from the first round, is a quality player. I don’t want to psych myself out too much.” – Naomi Osaka, after beating Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska in her first two matches.

“I’m still making errors that I don’t normally make. I call this a trial run, of traveling with the baby and all of this is just so new to me.” – Serena Williams.

SISTERLY CLASH

This last time the Williams sisters faced each other on a tennis court was in the 2017 Australian Open final. Serena won, then promptly left the WTA tour to give birth to a daughter and get married. Serena and Venus meet again this week in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open, their earliest clash since their first professional match in the second round of the Australian Open in 1998. “Obviously I wish it was anybody else in the draw, literally anybody, but that’s OK,” Serena said of playing Venus. “I really abhor every time we play, but I do enjoy the battle when I’m out there. It’s just afterwards I don’t like it as much.” Serena got there with a hard-earned 7-6 (5) 7-5 win over Kiki Bertens. “It definitely felt better than the first round, but I’m still a little rusty,” Serena said. Venus moved into the third round by beating Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-4. Going into their 29th meeting, Serena leads the head-to-head 17-11, including a walkover victory at Indian Wells in 2001 when an injured Venus pulled out minutes before their scheduled semifinal. After spectators vented their displeasure with the withdrawal, some allegedly shouting racist taunts, the sisters boycotted the event until Serena returned in 2015.

STRANGE GAME

Taro Daniel of Japan exploited all of the problems in Novak Djokovic’s game to knock out the former world number one 7-6 (3) 4-6 6-1 in a second-round match at Indian Wells. “It felt like the first match I have ever played on the tour, very weird,” said Djokovic, who was playing for the first time since undergoing surgery on his right elbow. “I just completely lost rhythm, everything.” It was Djokovic’s performance in the final set that raised eyebrows, losing 6-1 to a qualifier ranked 109^th in the world. “We wondered post-surgery what it was going to look like, how his elbow was going to react to the strain and stress, but it was his heart and head that didn’t react the right way in this match,” said four-time Grand Slam champion Jim Courier, now a Tennis Channel commentator. “That is as head scratching as anything you’ll see.” Djokovic was playing in only his second tournament since Wimbledon last July. He took six months and returned in January’s Australian Open, only to lose in the fourth round. He had surgery after that. Daniel won two rounds of qualifying before beating fellow qualifier Cameron Norris in the first round. “He obviously wasn’t in his top form, so I was able to take advantage of it,” Daniel said. “And even if I lost the second set, I still had faith I could pull something off in the third.”

STREAK SNAPPED

At 16 years old, Amanda Anisimova is the youngest player in the BNP Paribas Open field. It was her game that let the American snap Petra Kvitova’s 14-match winning streak and win their third-round battle 6-2 6-4. “I’m still in shock,” Anisimova said. “She’s the best player I have ever played, and it was the biggest court I have ever played on. So it was definitely nerve-wracking kind of, but I was enjoying it so much out there and I was playing my best. It was a good day.” Kvitova had won her last two tournaments and had been playing some of the best tennis of her career. Against Anisimova, though, Kvitova committed four double faults and lost serve five times. Anisimova won last year’s US Open junior girls title without dropping a set and losing just two games in the final. Her win over Pauline Parmentier of France in the first round at Indian Wells was her first WTA main draw victory and third win over a Top 100 player. In the second round, the knocked off 23^rd-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-1.

SICK BAY

On the eve of his first match, Kei Nishikori withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open because of illness. “I have been sick for over a week and tried everything I could to get better,” said the only Japanese player to be ranked in the world’s top five. “I’m still not strong enough to go play a match. I’m very sorry as I love this tournament.” The 28-year-old Nishikori reached the US Open final in 2014, losing to Marin Cilic.

STRONG START

Anyone checking the draw before the tournament began would wonder about Naomi Osaka’s chances of reaching the third round at Indian Wells. No one asked Naomi Osaka. The 20-year-old Japanese player shocked Maria Sharapova in the opening round, then followed that up by ousting Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 6-2. “I feel like she plays really good with pace, so I felt like I had to mix it up a lot and just sort of give her a little bit of no rhythm, even though that’s what she does to me, too,” Osaka said of Radwanska. “I was just trying to be mentally really calm and just go for it when I had it.” And that she did. Osaka won 83 percent of points on her first serve and broke Radwanska’s serve four times.

SAYONARA

After losing in the opening round of the BNP Paris Open, former world number one Maria Sharapova and her longtime coach Sven Groeneveld announced they were parting ways. “Although we have mutually agreed to part ways during this time, I have been incredibly fortunate to have a team leader like him in my corner for the past four years,” Sharapova said in a statement on her website. With Groeneveld as her coach, Sharapova won seven titles, including the 2014 French Open. He had previously worked with several WTA stars, including Monica Seles, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Mary Pierce, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki.

SACHIA SUPER

Sachia Vickery pulled off the biggest victory of her career when she upset third-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza 2-6 7-5 6-1 in a second-round match at the BNP Paribas Open. Muguruza sailed to the early lead 6-2 3-0 40-0. “I just tried to fight for every point and hang in there,” said Vickery, who had to qualify for the main draw. “The crowd was so amazing and got behind me, and that atmosphere really helped me even though I was feeling it a little bit physically. … I’ve just worked so hard for so many years and I’ve been so close … and this is just the most amazing night of my life and I couldn’t be happier,” Vickery said.

SAYS CAT DID IT

A tennis umpire says her husband may have died after tripping over their cat. Lois Goodman had been arrested and accused of beating her husband to death before charges were later dropped. In an interview with NBC News, Goodman said her husband Alan died after tripping over their cat and falling down the stairs of their Los Angeles home. She said her husband was legally blind and one of their cats would usually lie on the steps. Goodman, who was arrested before a US Open match in New York in 2012, is suing the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

SURFING

Indian Wells (BNP Paribas): https://bnpparibasopen.com/

Irving: https://irvingtennisclassic.com/

Miami: www.miamiopen.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

$7,913,405 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (second week)

$150,000 Irving Tennis Classic, Irving, Texas, USA, hard

WOMEN

$7,107,445 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (second week)

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN