It was, as Ons Jabeur put it, a day for good hands. As wild winds swirled in the California desert, fortunes fluctuated. Karolina Pliskova, the top seed at Indian Wells, was beaten by a lucky loser ranked 115th in the world. The defending champion, Bianca Andreescu, was relieved of her crown after a reign that, following the rescheduled event’s cancellation last year, had lasted for two and a half years. But Jabeur, a player schooled in the gusty Tunisian coastal town of Sousse, continued to make ground in her bid to qualify for the season-ending WTA Finals.
Indian Wells has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for Pliskova, who reached the quarter-finals or better at each of the tournament’s previous four editions. Here, however, the blustery conditions wreaked havoc with the Czech’s game. Facing the Brazilian southpaw Beatriz Haddad Maia, a player she had brushed aside for the loss of just two games in their only previous meeting, Pliskova committed 42 unforced errors, crashing to a 6-3, 7-5 defeat. For Haddad Maia, who suffered a final-set whitewash against Usue Maitane Arconada of the US in the second round of qualifying, victory over the world No 3 continued a remarkable turnaround following her return from a 10-month suspension for a doping violation.
“It was very tough today, the wind was the worst,” said Haddad Maia. “That’s tennis sometimes, we can’t control the conditions. Both of us knew that the conditions would be tough today and I knew that I had to work today with this feeling. I knew that I couldn’t feel the ball well because sometimes the wind was changing [the flight of the ball], but I’m very happy to do it.”
“I was very happy and proud to come here. Also I had two chances, because I had a very tough match in qualies and I lost in the third set 6-0, I was very upset. When I had a second chance, I think I did my best. For sure this tournament is very special for me.”
The Brazilian will face Anett Kotaveit in round four after the Estonian 18th seed defeated Andreescu, the 2019 champion, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Kontaveit, who has won titles in Cleveland and Ostrava since entering a coaching partnership with Dmitry Tursunov, the Russian former world No 20, appears to have the Indian sign over Andreescu, having now beaten the Canadian in each of their three meetings.
An early break set the tone, and although Andreescu battled back to see off three set points and level the set at 5-5, Kontaveit finished the opening-set tiebreak strongly. Striking her forehand with venom despite the swirling wind, the Estonian went on recover from 3-1 down in the second set, reeling off five successive games to seal the win.
“I didn’t play my best, and I didn’t feel my best,” said Andreescu, whose ranking will now drop significantly as the points drop off from her 2019 win. “I had to deal with what I had, and obviously it wasn’t enough.
“The conditions were a bit tough, as well, with the wind and the sun, but Anett, I honestly don’t think she played her best tennis either. She was the better player today.
“It was windy like the whole match, but I just felt like it kept getting worse as the match went on.”
Fortune favours the versatile in such conditions, and no one is more adaptable than Jabeur. Danielle Collins’ opponents have spent much of the summer wondering how to stop the combative Floridian, and here Mother Nature provided the answer. Eleven double faults and a meagre 28% success rate behind her second serve told the story of Collins’ unsuccessful battle against the elements, but the American’s 6-1, 6-3 defeat owed at least as much to the excellence of Jabeur, for whom it was all very much business as usual. Using the wind to her advantage, the Tunisian produced her usual array of violently spun drop shots and whirling slices, pulling the hapless Collins from pillar to post. The highlight came early, Jabeur chasing down a drop volley on her forehand side before racing back to flick an outrageous running backhand pass.
“It’s good to have good hands today,” said Jabeur, who has her sights set firmly on a place at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara. “It helped me a lot. I’m glad that I was really relaxed and trying to enjoy the slices, the dropshots that I was doing.
“It was very tricky when you don’t know where the ball is going to bounce, if it’s going to end up somewhere else, not the impact you want to hit in. I think I managed pretty well to keep the ball on the court.
“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. We had a lot of practices when it was windy.
“I think I’m used to playing in the wind. With all the tools that I have, all the shots that I have, it think it really helped me get the win.”
Jabeur, who is currently ninth in the eight-woman race to Guadalajara, will play Anna Kalinskaya, a Russian qualifier ranked 151 in the world, for a place in the last eight.
Paula Badosa, the 21st seed, saw off Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-2 to set up a last-16 appointment with French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, while Angelique Kerber continued her summer resurgence with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 victory over fellow former finalist Daria Kasatkina. Ajla Tomljanovic stands between Kerber and a place in the last eight after the Australian came through 6-4, 6-3 against Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia.
In the men’s draw, top seed Daniil Medvedev will play Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round after defeating Filip Krajinovic, the Serbian who beat him at Indian Wells as a qualifier two years ago, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1). Cameron Norrie claimed the scalp of Roberto Bautista Agut, the Spanish 15th seed, with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win, but Dan Evans was unable to make it a British double, slipping to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 defeat against Diego Schwartzman.