Saturday’s match between Ana Ivanovic and Elina Svitolina was a real cracker.  The first two sets were high quality and the third was tremendously awful, yet gripping in its entirety.  There was a lot to get excited about with Svitolina’s game.  She served very well for a set and a half, and is a terrific mover around the court.  However all her good was rather undone at the end of the match as she twice failed to serve out the match before wilting in the third set tiebreak. 

It’s the first time I have watched a whole match of Svitolina’s and I did find her random bouts of crazy, comical.  She also starts grunting on the really big points and I even noticed a grunt on a slice.  Too funny.  Ivanovic was incredibly shaky in the decider, but the way she managed to dig the win out was very impressive.  This was her second victory in a third set tiebreak in her last three matches having edged past Kerber in Dubai.  If Ivanovic can get past Sloane Stephens in the third round, a tough match for sure, then she would fancy her chances of making the quarter-finals.

In other matches, I was really quite stunned to see Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor upset Angelique Kerber, 2-6 7-6 6-4.  This was Kerber’s fourth loss in five matches in three set matches this year.  This opens up the draw for Alisa Kleybanova, who enjoyed an equally surprising win over Garbine Muguruza.  Of course, the biggest drama came from the match between Fabio Fognini and Ryan Harrison… more of that coming! I will have a bit of time today so will get some good previews out tonight for Monday’s matches, which look rather tremendulous.

1. Eugenie Bouchard v Sara Errani (WTA IW, R3)

Eugenie Bouchard

Sunday’s best match from the women’s side pits Eugenie Bouchard against Sara Errani.  The pair were in each other’s draws at the Australian Open and in Doha, but one or another reasons has prevented a first hard court meeting.  I hold my hands up, I really got Peng v Bouchard all wrong! Bouchard produced a clean and clinical display to beat Peng, 6-2 6-2.  She served very well throughout the match although I had to chuckle at her coach, Nick Saviano’s comment on one of the changeovers that she has “one of the best serves in the world”.

Errani was equally dominant as she rolled past Sharon Fichman, 6-1 6-1.  In her second consecutive match against a Canadian player, this one will be a great deal tougher.  Bouchard is dealing with all this pressure and expectation surrounding her remarkably well.  She seems to be harnessing the support for her, which was extremely evident on a livelier-than-normal, Stadium 3.  Errani has been solid this year with two quarter-finals in Sydney and Doha, and a final appearance in Paris.  Errani won their only previous match-up on the clay of Acapulco; however she has not done particularly well in the more weighty battles this year.  Bouchard for the win… just.

Prediction: Bouchard d. Errani in 3 sets

2. Gilles Simon v Dominic Thiem (ATP IW, R2)

While talk is ripe on the WTA tour about the promising talents coming through, the same cannot be said for the ATP tour.  The exception to this in 2014 has been Dominic Thiem.  The world number 101 made a name for himself in Rotterdam when he took Andy Murray to three sets with a display of attacking all-court tennis.  He is one of the few up-and-comers with a one-handed backhand and his game is attractive on the eye.  Aside from the good performance against Murray in Rotterdam, he has also managed to qualify for the main draws of  Doha, the Australian Open and Indian Wells.  In the first round, he comfortably defeated fellow qualifier, Daniel Kosakowski, 6-2 7-6(1).  His second round opponent is Gilles Simon, which is a very winnable match.  However the Frenchman, who has been battling injuries this year, produced some solid results in Acapulco and should have beaten Murray to make the semi-finals.  This will be another good test for Thiem, but I think Simon’s consistency will get him the win.

Prediction: Simon d. Thiem in 3 sets

WTA Indian Wells 3rd Round Predictions

Simona Halep d. Lucie Safarova in 2 tight sets

Roberta Vinci d. Casey Dellacqua in 3 sets

Lauren Davis d. Varvara Lepchenko in 3 sets

Jelena Jankovic d. Magdalena Rybarikova in 2 sets

Caroline Wozniacki d. Yaroslava Shvedova in 3 sets

Alize Cornet d. Carla Suarez Navarro in 3 sets

Agnieszka Radwanska d. Annika Beck in 2 sets

ATP Indian Wells 2nd Round Predictions

Richard Gasquet d. Teymuraz Gabashvili in 2 sets

Fernando Verdasco d. Horacio Zeballos in 2 sets

Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Yen-Hsun Lu in 3 sets

John Isner d. Nikolay Davydenko in 3 sets

Grigor Dimitrov d. Robin Haase in 2 sets

Ernests Gulbis d. Joao Sousa in 2 sets

Florian Mayer d. Jarkko Nieminen in 3 sets

Tomas Berdych d. Roberto Bautista-Agut in 2 sets

Vasek Pospisil d. Mikhail Kukushkin in 2 sets

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Julien Benneteau in 2 tight sets

Tommy Robredo d. Marinko Matosevic in 3 sets

Marin Cilic d. Paolo Lorenzi in 2 sets

Ivan Dodig d. Alejandro Gonzalez in 2 sets

Novak Djokovic d. Stephane Robert in 2 sets