Two of the four women’s quarterfinal matches were played on Wednesday. The much anticipated high drama match between Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska was a total letdown. Radwanska struggled to find her game early and as the match wore on, Azarenka’s confidence grew (Not that she thinks confidence is important, “It’s overrated,” she previously stated.) and was zoning out there. On the brink of being double bageled, the Pole somehow found a way to win two games to keep it somewhat respectable.

The other quarterfinal match was also a letdown. Li Na, who has been playing well this year, reverted to her losing ways. She had no patience at all on the court as her opponent, Angelique Kerber, kept giving her an extra ball to hit and miss. It was a surprisingly routine win for the German who is in her 7th semifinal in 11 tournaments. She will face Azarenka next.

The rematch of “handshake gate” between Nicolas Almagro and Thomas Berdych did not live up to it’s hype. What is it with all these supposedly high drama matches turning into complete duds? Quite simply, Berdych played poorly throughout the match and stood no chance against Almagro who has been striking the ball well since the Golden Swing prior to Indian Wells.

Roger Federer had to come back from a set down in his match again. Although everyone knew that his opponent, Thomaz Bellucci, was never going to get the win. When Bellucci starts to think about what’s happening on the court, everything falls apart for him. So, after he won the first set and heard the murmurs of the crowd, he became conscious of what he was about to achieve and sure enough lost control. Federer, as usual, somehow found an extra gear within him even though he wasn’t 100% healthy.

Other notable scorelines: Novak Djokoivc was taken to three sets by Pablo Andujar and David Nalbandian upset Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three after saving a match point.

Results:
Wednesday March 14, 2012

WTA Main Draw Singles - Quarter-finals

[1] V Azarenka (BLR) d [5] A Radwanska (POL) 60 62

[18] A Kerber (GER) d [8] N Li (CHN) 64 62

ATP Main Draw Singles - Fourth Round

[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d P Andujar (ESP) 60 67(5) 62

[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [21] A Dolgopolov (UKR) 63 62

[3] R Federer (SUI) d T Bellucci (BRA) 36 63 64

D Nalbandian (ARG) d [6] J Tsonga (FRA) 36 75 63

[12] N Almagro (ESP) d [7] T Berdych (CZE) 64 60

[9] J Del Potro (ARG) d D Istomin (UZB) 76(2) 67(6) 62

[11] J Isner (USA) d [Q] M Ebden (AUS) 64 75

[13] G Simon (FRA) d R Harrison (USA) 76(0) 57 61

Maria Noble

Maria Noble is a tennis blogger and photographer living in Los Angeles. She was introduced to the sport at a young age by her parents who are also avid tennis fans. Maria started writing about tennis in 2008 on her blog, thedoublebagel. A photographer by trade, she just began shooting tennis (from the pit!) earlier this year at Indian Wells for Tennis View Magazine.