Indian Wells: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic lead Tuesday
Monday's action at Indian Well saw eight men's singles matches and a mixture of exciting and one-sided encounters that determined seven round-four passengers. Gael Monfils, Ivo Karlovic, Dominic Thiem, Jan-Lennard Struff, Milos Raonic, Yoshihito Nishioka and Miomir Kecmanovic will fight for the place in the quarter-final while the organizers postponed the last match of the day between Novak Djokovic and Philipp Kohlschreiber for Tuesday due to rain that started in the closing stages of the second game. That immediately brought changes in already released Tuesday's schedule, adding the world no. 1 to the Stadium 1 action where he joins Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the packed day at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden!
Thus, the crowd on the second-biggest tennis stadium in the world will have a chance to watch three of the greatest players of all time who have won mind-blowing 52 Grand Slam titles since Wimbledon 2003 (they have claimed 13 titles at Indian Wells as well), experiencing something you can't see that often on the Tour! After Kiki Bertens and Garbine Muguruza, Rafael Nadal and Diego Schwartzman are supposed to open the men's action on the show court, facing each other for the seventh time with the Spaniard winning all six previous encounters. The Argentinian knows how to bring his 'A game' against Rafa, taking a set at the Australian Open and Roland Garros last year in the matches that lasted almost eight hours combined!
Nadal defeated Jared Donaldson in the opening match and he will be the favorite in this one as well, hoping for a good run after a terrible loss against Nick Kyrgios in Acapulco when he wasted three match points. After them, Novak Djokovic and Philipp Kohlschreiber will complete their third-round match, starting almost from the beginning after less than two games they had finished on Monday, with three break points up for grabs. Novak is seeking the record-breaking sixth Indian Wells crown (just like Roger Federer), looking to extend the winning streak after beating Nadal in the final of the Australian Open and endeavoring the ninth win over the German in ten matches.
The third and last men's singles match of the day on Stadium 1 offers the ultimate clash between the Swiss giants Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, facing each other for the 25th time and only the second after competing in the final here at Indian Wells in 2017! Roger has returned into the top-5 after claiming the 100th title in Dubai while Wawrinka is on a comeback trail after a severe knee injury that halted his career for almost a year and a half. Stan won just 17 matches in 2018 and is already on 11 this year, ousting Marton Fucsovics in the second round after three hours and 24 minutes to set the anticipated clash with Roger whom he failed to beat since Roland Garros 2015!
Overall, Federer has won 21 encounters against the compatriot and scored a 6-4, 7-5 triumph in the title match here in 2017, setting his eyes on the sixth straight win over a good friend and staying in the title chase.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2u1qqGW
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