Today was gorgeous weather - it reached 77 with blue skies. We spent a bit of time at the pool in the afternoon.
But, our main feature of each day is tennis, tennis, tennis.
We watched three sets in the small Stadium 3 in the front row, so were only a few feet away from the players, which was amazingly cool.
First, we saw #8 seeded Marin Cilic defeated by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in quite an upset. 6-7, 0-6.
Then, we saw #21 seed and two-time Indian Wells Champion, Daniella Hantuchova beaten by veteran player from Italy, Roberta Vinci. Sitting on the sidelines for Hantuchova was Darren Cahill and Jose Reyes, as well as her mother. It was pretty cool to see Cahill and Reyes. It was painful to watch Hantuchova's struggles.
Vinci outplayed her and won in two sets: 6-3, 7-5.
Then, continuing the disaster for women stars, we saw Anna Ivanovic, seeded 24 beaten by a 19-year old Latvia, Anastasia Sevastova, also in two sets. 2-6, 4-6. Again, it was painful to watch Ivanovic, who has been struggling for the past year. She had a lot of unforced errors and had problems with her serve. The Latvian made fewer mistakes and covered the court well. Ivanovic was visibly upset to be eliminated so quickly.
Having sat in the hard and cold bleachers for over three hours, we were glad to move to the main stadium for a three-set match between #2 seed Novak Djokovic and American veteran Mardy Fish who had met Djokovic two years ago in the Indian Wells final. It started out very lopsided with Djokovic taking the first set 6-0. It looked as it was going to be a blow out. But, Fish rallied, with great crowd support and took the second set, quite stunningly - 6-1. By this point, the rather small crowd was involved with most rooting for Fish. However, there was a loud Djokovic continent, as well, many of them displaying Serbian flags and shouting "Ay Da", which means something like "Let's go!" While Fish put up a valiant effort, Djokovic's strong play prevailed in the end, and he took the set 6-3. So, although we got home past 11, it was well worth it.
What a day of tennis!
Then, continuing the disaster for women stars, we saw Anna Ivanovic, seeded 24 beaten by a 19-year old Latvia, Anastasia Sevastova, also in two sets. 2-6, 4-6. Again, it was painful to watch Ivanovic, who has been struggling for the past year. She had a lot of unforced errors and had problems with her serve. The Latvian made fewer mistakes and covered the court well. Ivanovic was visibly upset to be eliminated so quickly.
Having sat in the hard and cold bleachers for over three hours, we were glad to move to the main stadium for a three-set match between #2 seed Novak Djokovic and American veteran Mardy Fish who had met Djokovic two years ago in the Indian Wells final. It started out very lopsided with Djokovic taking the first set 6-0. It looked as it was going to be a blow out. But, Fish rallied, with great crowd support and took the second set, quite stunningly - 6-1. By this point, the rather small crowd was involved with most rooting for Fish. However, there was a loud Djokovic continent, as well, many of them displaying Serbian flags and shouting "Ay Da", which means something like "Let's go!" While Fish put up a valiant effort, Djokovic's strong play prevailed in the end, and he took the set 6-3. So, although we got home past 11, it was well worth it.
What a day of tennis!
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