Last week, the BNP Paribas Open kicked off in Palm Springs, California. The two-week long event is part of the ATP Masters Series on the men’s tour and is a Tier 1 event on the women’s tour. Despite the constant, dry heat, the BNP Paribas Open is the most attended tennis tournament outside the four Grand Slams, with over 300,000 visitors showing up during the event. Fourth round action finishes today, so I’ve included a short roundup to help everyone catch up.
– Maria Sharapova played her first match in seven months since returning from shoulder surgery. She lost 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 in doubles with partner Elena Vesnina to Ekaterina Makarova and Tatiana Poutchek.
– Defending women’s champion Ana Ivanovic advanced to the fourth round. She’s been working with Martina Navratilova’s old tutor, Craig Kardon.
– Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova continued her Cinderella Story at the BNP Paribas Open, advancing after a 6-3, 3-0 lead in her fourth round match when Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives retired with a left hip strain. The 17 year-old had previously upset a struggling Jelena Jankovic (the #2 seed) in the second round.
– Roger Federer has advanced to the fourth round where he will face Chilean Fernando Gonzalez. This is Federer’s first event since his disappointing finals loss to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open in January.
– Novak Djokovic, the defeding men’s champion, has advanced to the fourth round and will face Stanislas Wawrinka from Switzerland.
– Fernando Verdasco, Andy Murray, Tommy Robredo, Rafael Nadal, David Nalbandian, Andy Roddick, David Ferrer, and Juan Martin del Potro also advanced.
The quarterfinals kick off tomorrow. FSN has full coverage.
