Event of the Day: Indian Wells Masters Day 8
Our event of the day is the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Both the WTA and ATP tours are in town and the tournaments are beginning to reach their final stages. In the women’s draw, Venus Williams lines up against Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro in the quarter-finals. Venus knocked out the returning Serena Williams in the third round and is yet to drop a set in the tournament. Navarro has a big scalp of her own already in Indian Wells, having beaten fourth seed Elina Svitolina in the third round. Elsewhere in the women’s draw, former world number one Angelique Kerber plays Daria Kasatkina for a place in the semis. Kerber cruised through the last round beating seventh seed Caroline Garcia in straight sets (6-1, 6-1) while Kasatkina faced a slightly sterner test as she knocked out world number two Caroline Wozniacki.
The ageless Roger Federer rumbles on and faces Chung Hyeon in his quarter-final. The world number one hardly looks to have got out of second gear and after defeating unseeded Frenchman Jérémy Chardy in the last round, will be expecting to reach the semi-finals. In the men’s doubles, Spanish duo Feliciano and Marc López face third seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavić. A thrilling day of tennis awaits with semi-final spots on the line.
Honourable mentions around the globe go to the first day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Florida. After coming tied for second last week at the Valspar Championship, all the talk in the world of golf has been about Tiger Woods. In the UEFA Europa League, Arsenal will hope to seal their spot in the next round with their second leg match against AC Milan at the Emirates. Elsewhere in the Europa League, Borussia Dortmund are in Austria to play Red Bull Salzburg. In the NHL, the Philadelphia Flyers host the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Florida Panthers play the Boston Bruins and the St Louis Blues face the Colorado Avalanche. The NBA sees the Indiana Pacers play the Toronto Raptors, the San Antonio Spurs take on the New Orleans Pelicans and the Houston Rockets match up against the LA Clippers. In rugby league’s NRL, week two kicks off with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks playing the St. George Illawarra Dragons while the Super League sees the Huddersfield Giants face Hull Kingston Rovers. It is Day 3, St Patrick’s Thursday, at Cheltenham Festival and the Cricket World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe have now reached the Super Six stage as the West Indies play Afghanistan and the UAE meet Scotland.
Whatever you’re watching, enjoy!
Fixture
Photos by WTA; ATP World Tour