LONDON: Big servers Karolina Pliskova, Bianca Andreescu and Reilly Opelka saw their most potent weapon neutralised by strong desert winds on Monday as they all crashed out of Indian Wells.
The biggest upset of the day came when tournament lucky loser Beatriz Haddad Maia, ranked 115 in the world, defeated top seed Pliskova 6-3 7-5 in a match where service holds were rare as wind gusts reached 40 miles per hour.
Pliskova, who reached the Wimbledon final in July, issued 12 double faults to five aces and was broken eight times by the Brazilian in their third-round meeting.
Haddad Maia will next face Anett Kontaveit after the Estonian beat defending champion Bianca Andreescu 7-6(5) 6-3 to extend her win streak to eight matches.
Kontaveit, who already has two hard court titles to her name this season, won the last five games of the match to see off the tournament’s 2019 champion from Canada, who also captured the US Open crown that year.
Towering American Reilly Opelka’s thunderous serve lacked its usual bite as he fell 6-3 6-4 to Grigor Dimitrov.
The win spelled vengeance for Dimitrov, who lost to Opelka in straight sets at the Canadian Open in August.
Dimitrov will next face either top-seeded Daniil Medvedev or 27th-seeded Filip Krajinovic, who play later on Monday.
In other third-round action, Diego Schwartzman sent Briton Dan Evans packing 5-7 6-4 6-0 and 10th seed Angelique Kerber held on to defeat Daria Kasatkina 6-2 1-6 6-4
Evans, who reached the fourth round of the US Open last month, fought back from 5-2 down to win the first set and maintained the momentum to break the Argentine 11th seed’s serve in the opening game of the second.
But Schwartzman roared back to convert four of six break points in the second set to level the match. Evans never regained his footing as Schwartzman dropped just two first-serve points in the third set.
Kerber came out on top in a see-saw contest where she dropped the second set after winning just 11 of 28 first-serve points. The German fended off a double break point to close out the match.
American John Isner, seeded 20th, withdrew prior to his third-round match scheduled for Tuesday against Jannik Sinner to return home for the birth of his third child.
Meanwhile, US Open champion Daniil Medvedev defeated Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 7-6 (7/1).
The 25-year-old Russian delivered a dynamic performance in a second-set tiebreaker to pull away from the Serb and increase his match record to 50-10 this season.
“It was a really tough match,” Medvedev said. “The first set I got lucky in a few moments. The second set I started well, but he raised his level.
“I am happy I managed to fight on every point and get it to a tiebreak. I was super solid in the tiebreak and really put the pressure on.”
