HURKACZ HURRIES PAST TIAFOE… In a rain-delayed evening encounter, Polish No. 8 seed Hubert Hurkacz was untroubled by neither the cold, blustery conditions or third-round opponent Frances Tiafoe, blitzing the American 6-3, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open for the second time in his career.
HSIEH/MERTENS WIN ROLAND-GARROS REMATCH… It might have secretly been the best match of Roland-Garros this year: A three-set women’s doubles epic between top seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Elise Mertens versus Iga Swiatek and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, with the latter duo prevailing 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. On Monday, Hsieh & Mertens got their revenge, 1-6, 6-4, [10-8] to reach the quarterfinals.
DIMITROV GETS REVENGE OVER OPELKA… In Toronto two months ago, Reilly Opelka’s big serve on the quick courts of the Aviva Centre got the better of Grigor Dimitrov. But in the windy, slower conditions at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, it was the Bulgaria who had the edge, getting through his own services games with ease and breaking at the right moments to overcome the 7-foot-tall American by the same score he lost to in August: 6-3, 6-4.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌✅@GrigorDimitrov gets past No. 16 seed Reilly Opelka 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round for the first time in eight appearances.#BNPPO21 pic.twitter.com/egHQR6tiRM
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) October 11, 2021
JABEUR CONQUERS WIND, COLLINS TO ADVANCE… In Stadium 3’s third match of the day, the wind was as much of an opponent as the player standing across the net, and it was No. 12 seed Ons Jabeur who handled it better than Danielle Collins on the day. The Tunisian star won 6-1, 6-3 as Collins struggled with her serve in the wind.
KARATSEV OUTDUELS DENIS… A frustrated Denis Shapovalov had no answers for Aslan Karatsev’s surprisingly measured play on Monday afternoon, falling 7-5, 6-2 to the Russian surprise package, who has risen from near obscurity into a player no one wants to face early on.
“Yeah, the thing I showed her on my phone was an editing app for your face. She’s, like, Oh, I have this stain on my shirt. How can I get rid of it? Can we get rid of it? I’m like, ‘Yeah, don’t worry. I got you.'” ––Bianca Andreescu on sharing some technology tricks with Billie Jean King.
“I’m going to tell you the secret. I come from a very windy city, so it’s on the beach. The last three years of pre-season we practice in a very windy city. Maybe today it kind of helped. It could really get ugly with the wind. It was kind of similar to today. I felt kind of used to it.” ––Jabeur on her secret weapon coming into today’s windy encounter against Collins.
[WC] Andy Murray vs. [3] Alexander Zverev
Need we say anything else? After knocking out talented 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in the second round, Murray is looking to consolidate his momentum. Against No. 3 seed Zverev, who the legendary Brit has beaten on two occasions (and as recently as Cincinnati last year), he’ll need to bring his best once again on Tuesday’s third day session match on Stadium 1.
[24] Jelena Ostapenko vs. [2] Iga Swiatek
In a battle of two former Roland-Garros champions who have been loving the slower BNP Paribas Open conditions and using the high bounces to tee off for massive winners. The two have played only once before, but it a straight-sets drubbing on grass at the hands of Ostapenko at the start of Swiatek’s young career, so the data points on how these two explosive competitors will stack up in Stadium 3’s first match are few.
Either of these players could be holding the trophy in less than a week’s time, so this one is a can’t-miss that might have massive implications on the women’s draw moving forward.
Shelby Rogers vs. [23] Leylah Fernandez
Has there been a more impressive story over the last two months than Leylah Fernandez’s thrilling rise through the rankings? She’s giving exuberant crowds plenty to cheer about once again this week, but won’t have it easy against Shelby Rogers, who is in arguably the form of her career at the moment.
Fernandez is yet to play a day session match so it might take her some time to adjust to the conditions, but this righty-vs-lefty duel is a Stadium 1 blockbuster that you’ll definitely want to watch.
