By Chris Oddo | Tuesday March 14, 2017
Garbine Muguruza has struggled mightily against Karolina Pliskova, losing her last five matches against the Czech, who now outranks her on tour, despite the lack of a Grand Slam title. But the Spaniard will get another shot at her longtime nemesis on Wednesday when the pair meet in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals.
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Muguruza battled past Elina Svitolina on Tuesday, snapping the Ukrainian’s 15-match losing streak with a 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-0 victory to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells for the first time.
Pliskova moved through when Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky was forced to retire trailing 5-1 in the first period with a left wrist injury.
“I think it's one of the toughest matches I can have now,” Muguruza said. “I think she's playing very good. She has been very consistent, and, yeah, I have been watching her. She has, you know, her game and very aggressive, good serve. So I'm just going to go out there and try to do my game, try to concentrate. I know it's a tough match.”
Both players have come a long way in two years. When they met in the third round here at Indian Wells that season, not many were predicting that Muguruza would already have a major title by now and that Pliskova would be inside the Top 5 with a Grand Slam final on her resumé.
Kerber Knocked off by Vesnina
Angelique Kerber’s struggles continue in 2017. Though she will reclaim the No.1 ranking on the Monday following Indian Wells, she was unable to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, falling in straight sets to Russia’s Elina Vesnina, 6-3, 6-3. Russia has three players in the quarterfinals. No.8-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and No.19-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova both advanced on Tuesday and will play one another in one of the top-half quarterfinals tomorrow.
Kuznetsova has not been the quarterfinals at Indian Wells since 2008; Pavlyuchenkova since 2009. Vesnina is making her first trip to the quarterfinals—the World No.15 lost in qualifying here last season.
Wozniacki Defeats Keys
Caroline Wozniacki eased past Madison Keys in the final night match on Stadium 1 on Tuesday, 6-4, 6-4. The Dane, a 2011 BNP Paribas Open champion, is a three-time finalist at Indian Wells. She improved to 18-5 on the season and will face Kristina Mladenovic in the quarterfinals. The Frenchwoman took out Lauren Davis, 6-3, 6-3.
Venus Williams also reached the quarterfinals. The American battled back from a set down to defeat China’s Peng Shuai, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, and will face Vesnina when the bottom half plays its quarterfinal matches on Thursday.