Dominic Thiem, Bianca Andreescu Winners in Indian Wells - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Dominic Thiem beat Roger Federer 3-6 6-3 7-5 to win the BNP Paribas Open men’s singles in Indian Wells, California, USA

Bianca Andreescu beat Angelique Kerber 6-4 3-6 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas Open women’s singles in Indian Wells, California, USA

Matteo Berrettini beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3 7-6 (2) to win the Arizona Tennis Classic in Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Veronika Kudermetova beat Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-0 to win the Abierto Zapopan in Guadalajara, Mexico

SAYINGS

“It’s unreal.” – Dominic Thiem, after beating Roger Federer to win his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy.

“(I) just came up against somebody who was, on the day, a bit better when it really mattered. That’s how it goes.” – Roger Federer.

“Hopefully this moment can be a great inspiration for many young athletes. If you believe in yourself, anything is possible. This moment has become a reality, so it’s really, really crazy.” – Bianca Andreescu, after winning her first WTA title.

“It’s not the moment to complain much. With all this stuff, I still where I am today.” – Rafael Nadal, ranked second in the world, on having to withdraw because of an injured right knee.

“When you can’t be at 100 percent, it’s tough to compete in a quarterfinal. I’ve been struggling with a lot of injuries my whole career, so I think I’m more mature to know to call it out and to make the better decision in the hope to play many more years.” – Gael Monfils, after an injury forced him to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open.

“It’s incredible, really. Another goal of mine was to make history and I just did. It’s incredible.” – Bianca Andreescu, who became the first wildcard entry to reach a final at the BNP Paribas Open.

“We are a great team. We can beat anyone. Especially on this tournament where (the difference in) every match is a few balls, a few points will decide who’s going to win. Of course, you’re not expecting to win, but we were going into every match confident that we can win, so we just went step by step and it happened.” – Nikola Mektic, after teaming with Horacio Zeballos to win the men’s doubles in Indian Wells.

SUCCESS, FINALLY

Playing in his third ATP Masters 1000 final, Dominic Thiem finally took home the biggest trophy. The Austrian stopped Roger Federer’s bid for a record sixth BNP Paribas Open crown, capturing the title by winning the last two games of the match. “It’s a pleasure to compete against Roger in this great final,” Thiem said. “I lost my last two Masters 1000 finals, but I won this one and it feels as nice as a Grand Slam.” Federer sparkled at the start, needing only 37 minutes to take the opening set while dominating at the net. Thiem used his big backhand to open up the court and level the match. The two battled evenly through the first 10 games of the decisive third set before Thiem broke his Swiss opponent yet again. This time, it was Thiem who was able to hold serve and close out the victory. “It was a great week and I think also a very good final today,” Thiem said. “Just amazing that I got here, my first really big title. I came from a really bad form in all categories and now I’m the champion of Indian Wells. It feels not real at all.” It was Thiem’s 12^th ATP World Tour title and his first on an outdoor hard court since Acapulco in 2016.

STUNNER

Bianca Andreescu completed her remarkable Indian Wells run by stunning three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber and winning the BNP Paribas Open. It was the 18-year-old Canadian’s first career title. “It wasn’t an easy match,” Andreescu said. “It was one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played. It’s so incredible.” Still, she’s not completely satisfied. Andreescu wants to follow in the footsteps of last year’s BNP Paribas Open women’s champion, Naomi Osaka, who went on to win the US Open and Australian Open. “The next is a Grand Slam,” Andreescu said. “Let’s see where this can take me. The youngster broke Kerber to begin the match. After the German knotted the match at a set apiece, Kerber broke Andreescu in the fifth game of the third set to go up 3-2. That’s when Andreescu took a medical time out and had her heavily taped right shoulder worked on by a trainer. The Canadian then broke right back and held at love. Kerber played tremendous defense to save three match points before Andreescu won the final two games for the title.

SECOND TIME A CHARM

“Oh, my God, we won Indian Wells,” Nikola Mektic exclaimed during the trophy ceremony. Playing in just their second tournament as a team, Mektic and Horacio Zeballos won the BNP Paribas Open men’s doubles by outlasting Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. The two combined after the full-time partners were injured. Still, Mektic earned his second Masters 1000 titles, while Zeballos got his first. Their biggest scare came in the second round when they faced two match points in a match tiebreak against top seeds and Australian Open champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. “We’re still looking at each other and just repeating, ‘Did we just win?’” Mektic said.

SWEET VICTORY

It didn’t take long for Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka to turn their teamwork into a title. The pair captured their second tournament together, stopping top-seeded Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova in the Indian Wells final. For Mertens and Sabalenka, it was revenge. The winning pair lost to Siniakova and Krejcikova at the Australian Open. “I think that was on our mind, but not really the result,” Mertens said. “We were there as one team, and it came out great. … In Australia we still had to figure things out, first time together and already playing three sets against those top seeds. I mean, I really felt there is really potential, us in a doubles team.”

STRUCK DOWN

A knee injury forced Rafael Nadal to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open just before he was to take on Roger Federer in a semifinal. “I warm up today in the morning and I felt that my knee was not enough good to compete at the level that I need to compete,” the Spaniard said. The 32-year-old Nadal’s right knee flared up in the second set of his 7-6 (2) 7-6 (2) quarterfinal win over Karen Khachanov. During the match Nadal twice called for a trainer, who applied tap just below the Spaniard’s knee. Nadal said he won’t play again until the Most Carlo Masters in mid-April.

STOPPED BY INJURY

When Gael Monfils walked out alone onto Stadium Court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the crowd knew the news would not be good. Instead of playing Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals, Monfils said he was withdrawing due to a strained left Achilles. “I tried to warm up and my left Achilles was very painful for a couple days,” the Frenchman told the crowd. “And this morning, it was really tough for me to run at 100 percent, and tonight I tried to hit a little bit and I cannot compete 100 percent tonight. “I’m so sorry, guys, to put you in this situation, and I so thank you for everything you gave me this week and, again, “I’m sorry.”

SICK CALL

Argentine Juan Martin del Potro will skip this week’s Miami Open as he continues rehabilitating from a right knee injury. “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to play in Miami this year,” del Potro wrote on Twitter. “Looking forward to coming back in 2020!” The 30-year-old fractured his right kneecap last October in Shanghai and returned only a few weeks ago at Delray Beach, Florida, USA, where he experienced more pain. He withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open where he was the defending men’s champion.

STARTING OVER?

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was ranked as high as fifth in the world and reached the Australian Open final. This week, he’s playing in the qualifying tournament at the Miami Masters. Following knee surgery last year, Tsonga sank to 140^th in the world. He returned to the ATP World Tour, winning his 17^th title in Montpellier, France, in February before reaching the quarterfinals in Rotterdam. He skipped the BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells, but accepted a wild card into the qualifying draw in Miami, the first time the 34-year-old has played a qualifying tournament since 2007 at Queens Club.

Mari Osaka, the older sister of world number Naomi, received a wild card entry into her first WTA main draw singles match. Mari Osaka has twice played on the WTA tour in doubles, most recently with Naomi at the 2017 Toray Pan Pacific Open.

SCANDAL TAKES DOWN COACH

Michael Center has been fired as University of Texas men’s tennis coach after he was indicted for taking bribes to help students get into top schools. Center was accused of taking up to nearly USD $100,000 to get a student into school by listing him as a tennis recruit and offering him a books scholarship. Although he enrolled, the student never played tennis. Center coached at Texas for 18 years. His attorney, Don Cogdell, said the coach will enter a no guilty plea.

SAD NEWS

Paul Hutching, the former British Davis Cup captain who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease, is dead at the age of 73. Hutchins led the British team to Davis Cup final in 1978, when it lost to the United States. Hutchins was Britain’s longest-serving Davis Cup captain, remaining in charge of the team for 13 years. He also served as Britain’s team leader for the 2012 London Olympics and founded the Rover Tennis initiative, a leading junior tennis program in the United Kingdom. In 2017, he was honored by Queen Elizabeth with an MBE for his services to the game.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Guadalajara: Maria Sanchez and Fanny Stollar beat Cornelia Lister and Renata Voracova 7-5 6-1

Indian Wells (men): Nikola Mektic and Horacio Zeballos beat Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 4-6 6-4 10-3 (match tiebreak)

Indian Wells (women): Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka beat Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-2

Phoenix: Jamie Murray and Nel Skupski beat Austin Krajicek and Artem Sitak 6-7 (2) 7-5 10-6 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Miami: https://www.miamiopen.com/

Charleston: http://www.volvocaropen.com/

Monterrey: http://abiertognpseguros.com/

Davis Cup: https://www.daviscup.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

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