The first two WTA matches of the day saw upsets as Agnieszka Radwanska and Lucie Safarova both lost in straight sets. Radwanska was beaten by Heather Watson in her biggest career win to date. I have to raise my hands and say I didn’t see that coming in the slightest. Credit to Heather for holding her own and serving out the match. It was a huge win and it’s great to see Heather playing well after a ropey February. I was busy watching Safarova’s match with Elina Svitolina. It wasn’t the result I was hoping for! It was nice to see Rob on court for the first time in a while, but Lucie didn’t play her best. She looked a little tight in the first set tiebreak and was quite erratic in the second set. A horrible miss in the final game didn’t help stake her claim and Svitolina sealed a deserved win with a return winner. I was going to write some recaps, but that result kind of bummed me out. Karolina Pliskova continued to impress with another super win over Garbine Muguruza, 7-5 6-4. Here’s the second of three previews for Monday.
1. Ana Ivanovic v Caroline Garcia (IW, R3)
Take a bow, WTA 3rd round line-up. Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Garcia will play each other for the second time in a little over a week in what should be a fascinating rematch. The slate of third round matches from Indian Wells is awesome and although it will all probably be a massive letdown, the anticipation is making these previews a doddle to write! Ivanovic and Garcia met last week in Monterrey where the Frenchwoman earnt her first top ten win of 2015 with a commanding 6-1 6-4 victory. Garcia needed three sets to win her first match in the desert. It should have been in straight sets with Garcia taking the scenic route as she wasted a 5-1 second set tiebreak lead. Eventually, Garcia prevailed against Polona Hercog, 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes.
Ivanovic was very steady in her first match, beating the lively Yulia Putintseva, 6-3 6-1. It was an impressive display from Ivanovic who dominated the second set and produced a positive winners to unforced errors differential, which not many players have done this week. For a full recap of that match including GIFs and pictures of the joy that is Putintseva, click HERE. It’s always intriguing when two players play each other in back-to-back tournaments. This will be a completely different match in opposite conditions to that of Monterrey. Ivanovic hasn’t been that convincing this year but for some reason or another, my hunch is that she’ll win this one.
Prediction: Ivanovic d. Garcia in 3 sets
2. Flavia Pennetta v Sam Stosur (IW, R3)
The Indian Wells defending champion, Flavia Pennetta earnt her spot on Stadium 1 court as she opened her title defence with a crucial win. Pennetta is fighting a battle to save ranking points and she started in the best possible way with a 6-4 6-2 win over Madison Brengle. Pennetta next faces Sam Stosur, who overcame Taylor Townsend in what sounded like (according to Twitter) a great match. Stosur won, 6-4 6-2 in what was a much more convincing scoreline than I expected. In a curious head-to-head, Pennetta has won all five encounters the pair have played between 2009 and 2014. Their last match-up was at this tournament in 2014 where Pennetta prevailed in three sets, 6-4 3-6 6-1 en route to winning the title. Pennetta started the year in woeful form, but she picked up her level with some wins in Dubai and Doha. The head-to-head is eye catching and Stosur has yet to win back-to-back matches this year. I’m a little on the fence, but i’d give Pennetta the nod.
Prediction: Pennetta d. Stosur in 3 sets
WTA Indian Wells 3rd round predictions
Eugenie Bouchard d. Coco Vandeweghe in 3 sets
Alize Cornet d. Lesia Tsurenko in 2 sets
Sabine Lisicki d. Sara Errani in 3 sets
Moo's Tennis Blog 
I’m hopeful for Sabine beating Errani, she did the Vinci/Errani double in Cincy last year, and if her serve is good she could pull off the win. I think confidence is the key for Sabine at the moment, and after finally winning a tight 3 setter, i hope she’ll go far!
I’m also hopeful Alize can defeat Tsurenko as i want Thanasi to stay as the MVP on Racket Rally so i can get some more court coins!!
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Sabine will defeat Errani. Sabine has two problems in her head. One is when she plays someone higher up in the ranking or some unknown young fella who can hit harder than her. If you check her stats, 90% of the time she will lose except in Wimbledon. On the other hand, she will beat someone she has beaten before even on her bad day (i.e. based on her stats). The court is very hot and Errani barely survived through Zhu Lin match because of the heat. Sabine is 2-0 Errani on HC. She will win this one.
Cornet will beat Tsurenko. It is a very bad match up. Tsurenko has problem dealing with player who can play volley or hit harder than her. I think Cornet meets the requirements. In addition, I think she might not be very fit after playing so many matches prior to this.
I am interested to see if Garcia can defeat Ana again or not. I am sure Ana is desperately want to prove it.
This court suits Flavy’s games and Stosur will have problems to deal with baseline ground strokes. I won’t be surprised she lost in two. It’s all on Flavy’s call.
Bouchard will have no problem to deal with Coco’s serves. Bourchard will win in 2 sets if she can grind through the match. Coco’s ground strokes are relatively very poor. If Bouchard takes the first set, Coco will lose the second one. This is based on her past tourney records.
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I’m hopeful for Sabine too. And sameeeee, I want Thanasi to get MVP… i’ve only got one court coin left!
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I see Ivanovic winning this one, barring injury. Garcia must be pretty tired and she’s fairly timid so I don’t see her following a big win with another (yet). On a technical level Garcia is one of the best players on the tour. Maybe even the second best after Serena. She has no weaknesses there at all. But she’s yet to start thinking like a champion.
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