Indian Wells Tennis 2015 Results: Scores, Bracket and Schedule After Day 8
One-half of the semifinal stage is set in both the men's and women's draws at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, following play on Thursday.
With only four matches on the schedule for the day, there weren't many surprises to be had, especially on the men's side, which saw one of the two quarterfinal meetings wiped out altogether.
Here's a look at how the first half of the quarterfinals played out.
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Day 8 Results
| Men's Singles | ||
| Quarterfinals | No. 4 Andy Murray vs. No. 12 Feliciano Lopez | Murray, 6-3, 6-4 |
| Quarterfinals | No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. Bernard Tomic | Djokovic, w/o |
| Women's Singles | ||
| Quarterfinals | Lesia Tsurenko vs. No. 18 Jelena Jankovic | Jankovic, 6-4, 4-1 (ret) |
| Quarterfinals | No. 24 Sabine Lisicki vs. No. 15 Flavia Pennetta | Lisicki, 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(4) |
Men's Recap
Novak Djokovic couldn't have asked for an easier road to the semifinals. His opponent for Thursday, Bernard Tomic, withdrew before the match, giving Djokovic the walkover.
According to The Associated Press (via ESPN.com), Tomic was dealing with both a back injury and a toothache:
"Tomic went to hit Thursday in preparation for his match and could barely move. His back ached and the right side of his face and neck were inflamed because of the tooth, for which he has been taking medication to lessen the infection.
He said he would try to have his tooth removed next week in Miami and wasn't sure whether he would still play in the two-week tournament there. Tomic said he has been advised to rest his back for five or six days.
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Most expected Djokovic to at least advance to the final in Indian Wells, and the fact that he'll be fresh for the semifinals makes him an even stronger favorite.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray had to work for his victory, downing Feliciano Lopez in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. The win was noteworthy for the 27-year-old in that it moved him past Tim Henman on the all-time list for British players in the Open era, according to Piers Newbery of BBC Sport:
Murray was nearly unstoppable on serve, especially in the first set. According to Russell Fuller of the BBC, he reeled off 13 straight points to start the match:
He eventually leveled off a bit in the second set but dropped only 13 of his 52 points on serve throughout the match.
Murray and Djokovic will face off in the first of two semifinals. Djokovic owns the head-to-head advantage, winning 16 of the 24 meetings between the two. The No. 1 player in the world has also taken the last five against Murray.
Women's Recap
Lesia Tsurenko has been one of the stories of the tournament on the women's side. The Russian qualifier beat Andrea Petkovic and Eugenie Bouchard en route to the quarterfinals.
Her luck ran out Thursday, as she was forced to retire in the second set against Jelena Jankovic.
Tsurenko was down 1-6, 1-4 at that point, so it's unlikely she would've toppled Jankovic had the match not ended early.
Tsurenko's injury came in the match against Bouchard when she tweaked her ankle. Although she continued to play through it in the fourth round, it became too much to bear Thursday.
"It's never nice to end a match in that way," Jankovic said after the match, per Mark Lamport-Stokes of Reuters. "In the second set, she started limping and I saw that she had some problem. I'm really sorry she got injured. She has had such a great tournament, she has beaten a lot of great players in the draw."
Before bowing out, Tsurenko had committed five double faults and lost four of Jankovic's five break-point opportunities.
Between that and the flare-up of her ankle injury, it just wasn't Tsurenko's day.
Jankovic will meet Sabine Lisicki in the semifinals. The 25-year-old German upset Flavia Pennetta in three sets, 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(4).
Neither player budged much on serve. Lisicki won 75 percent of her first serves and saved seven of 10 break points, while Pennetta countered by winning 66 percent of her first serves and saving seven of 11 break points. The two also combined to notch eight aces.
As Sports Illustrated noted, Pennetta was one point away from victory on three different occasions, but Lisicki scraped back from the abyss:
After the match, Lisicki said that playing in front of a big crowd in Indian Wells provided the boost she needed, according to Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times:
Jankovic has won all but one of the five head-to-head meetings with Lisicki. The two faced off most recently at the 2013 Western & Southern Open, with Jankovic prevailing in three sets.
Note: Match stats are courtesy of WTATennis.com and ATPWorldTour.com.
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