Serena Williams might have fallen short of winning the first Grand Slam of the 2016 season, but she is finding ways to rebound at Indian Wells. All of tennis' biggest names were on display Sunday in BNP Paribas Open as Williams found no issues trying to advance while Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were tested in the tournament.
Williams advanced into the fourth round of the tournament following a win against Yulia Putintseva. It was not easy at first for the world No. 1 player. Williams struggled early after having been off for six weeks following a loss in the Australian Open. She made 29 unforced errors in the match as she lookout of rhythm to start. However, she bounced back in the second set, winning in 24 minutes and moving forward. She will now face Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine in the fourth round of the tournament.
"My intensity was higher and I started making my shots. I was going for it," Williams said. "I just kept missing it either in the net or missing it out. Really, really close. I started making them, and then I started getting more confidence to continue to go for it, and that kind of helped me out."
Williams was not the only player that struggled early in matches on Sunday. Djokovic was unexpectedly challenged by Bjorn Fratangelo. While the top-ranked men's player won the match in three sets, Djokovic admitted that Fratangelo was not an easy opponent. The 22-year-old got up 4-0 early on Djokovic in the first set and remained a challenge throughout the entire match. In the end Djokovic won and will advance in hopes of winning three-straight titles at Indiana Wells.
"When you're a top player, most of the matches that you play you're a big favorite to win. You're expected to always win straight sets, and those are all part of, I guess, that position and pressures and, you know, ambitions that you have, that people have from you," Djokovic said. "The players just swing freely, and if they feel well, if they start well the match, then they can be very dangerous. That's what happened today."
Nadal also had to fight to get a win in the third round thanks to a lightning delay that caused the match to stall. He entered Indian Wells as a fourth seed in the tournament and had to fight back several times to beat Gilles Muller. Nadal has pressure on him to improve before heading into the French Open and Wimbledon later in the summer. A good showing at Indian Wells will help him in the upcoming grand slam tournaments.
"I'm very happy for the victory after the last three matches that I lost have been in three sets or five sets. So I needed a victory like this," Nadal said.
