Indian Wells Day 5 order of play: Halep, Gauff to meet in marquee night session
A place in the last 16 of the BNP Paribas Open is at stake on Day 5 of the BNP Paribas Open as third-round action gets under way and seeds start to meet. Here are six matches to circle on the schedule.
[3] Iga Swiatek
In tennis, there's always someone just behind you. At just 20 years old, Swiatek is already a Grand Slam winner and one of the young rising stars of the game. But to Tauson, 19, this is an opportunity to take down an established champion.
Exactly one year after the Dane made her Top 100 debut, she arrives in Indian Wells with two WTA titles under her belt (Lyon and Luxembourg last year) and a first career Top 10 win at the Australian Open over Anett Kontaveit.
Swiatek is also on a roll - a six-match winning streak, to be exact, after claiming the biggest hard-court title of her career in Doha and opening her Indian Wells account with a three-set win over Anhelina Kalinina
Head-to-head: Swiatek leads 1-0, a 6-3, 7-6(7) win in the Billie Jean King Cup zonal tie in 2019 at home in Zielona Gora, Poland.
[24] Simona Halep (ROU) vs. [16] Coco Gauff
When Halep and Gauff last faced each other, it was at a tournament that proved life-changing for both. Gauff's breakthrough run as a 15-year-old ranked No.313 at Wimbledon 2019 was ended in the fourth round by Halep, who went on to win her second Grand Slam crown.
Three years on, the rematch will take place on Gauff's 18th birthday. The American has now established herself firmly in the Top 30, where she has been placed since May. She rarely takes bad losses, having only been defeated by current or former Top 20 players since August and has a semifinal in Adelaide and quarterfinal in Doha under her belt this year. But defeating Halep would be an indication Gauff is ready for the next step.
The former World No.1 Halep, who fell out of the Top 20 after an injury-struck 2021, is looking to continue her quiet resurgence. The Romanian has a 12-3 record this season, and her partnership with new coach Morgan Bourbon got off to a bright start in Indian Wells as she defeated tricky opponent Ekaterina Alexandrova
Head-to-head: Halep leads 1-0.
[23] Daria Kasatkina
The most frequent head-to-head matchup on the Day 5 schedule is between Kerber and Kasatkina. They have played nine times previously, dating back to 2016, with Kerber owning a narrow 5-4 lead. Break that down by surface, and Kasatkina is up 4-3 on hard courts. Look through the lens of recency, and it's advantage Kerber, who has taken three of their past four meetings. They've clashed twice at Indian Wells, with Kasatkina winning 6-0, 6-2 in the 2018 quarterfinals and Kerber triumphing 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 in the third round last year.
Both are seeking to regain their top form. Covid-19 has hampered both players' seasons. Kerber's Australian Open preparation was disrupted by a positive test and did not post her first win of 2022 until this week, where she came back from a double break down in the third set to scrape past Zheng Qinwen. Kasatkina was unable to defend her St. Petersburg title because of a positive test and also barely survived her Indian Wells opener against wildcard Katie Volynets
Four of the pair's previous encounters have gone the distance. Few would be surprised if the 10th edition of the rivalry was another barnburner.
Head-to-head: Kerber leads 5-4; on hard courts, Kasatkina leads 4-3.
[11] Emma Raducanu
The most important takeaway from Raducanu's opening win against Caroline Garcia
Former World No.12 Martic is showing signs of emerging from an extended slump. The Croat's skillset is one of the widest and most natural on tour, but her challenge has often been to convert that repertoire into results. Her upset of No.19 seed Tamara Zidansek
An upset of Raducanu would be Martic's first Top 20 win since defeating Aryna Sabalenka
Head-to-head: 0-0.
[28] Liudmila Samsonova
No Top 10 players remain in the first quarter of the draw following No.7 seed Karolina Pliskova
Samsonova, whose no-holds-barred power took last year's grass season by storm, also posted a good win over Ann Li
Head-to-head: 0-0.
[25] Madison Keys
A reprise of the Adelaide 250 final in January, and the eighth edition of this all-American rivalry. On paper, Keys has a heavy advantage; she leads the series 6-1, with Riske's only victory coming in their first meeting in 2011, when Keys was 16 years old. In Adelaide, Keys was rarely troubled in a 6-1, 6-2 rout.
But since her January resurgence, which also took her to the Australian Open semifinals, Keys has dipped again. She took back-to-back first-round losses in Mexico and needed three sets to battle past Misaki Doi in her opener here. Riske, by contrast, enjoyed a spectacular comeback over No.8 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, winning 12 of the last 13 games after losing the first nine. Could she make an impact on the head-to-head again?
Head-to-head: Keys leads 6-1, including 3-1 on outdoor hard courts.
