Nadal, Djokovic, Blake reach fourth round

The fourth round is set on the bottom half of the men’s draw at the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells. Headlining that list of players is defending champion Rafael Nadal, Australian Open champ Novak Djokovic, and American James Blake.

Nadal defeated young American Donald Young 6-1, 6-3 to reach the fourth round. He will now face Australian Open finalist #17 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6(5), 6-4. Tsonga and Nadal have played twice before with each player winning a match. Tsonga defeated Nadal in the semifinals of his incredible run to the finals of the 2008 Australian Open.

The winner of the Nadal/Tsonga match will face either #8 Richard Gasquet or #9 James Blake in the quarterfinals. Gasquet upended #20 Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-1, while Blake moved past #19 Carlos Moya 6-3, 6-4. Gasquet is 2-0 against Blake in his career, and has yet to drop a set to the American.

On the other side of the bottom half of the draw, third-seeded Novak Djokovic has quietly moved into the fourth round. He blew past #27 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2 and will take on #16 Guillermo Canas next. Canas survived a three-setter against #21 Juan Monaco, winning 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-2. Djokovic is 1-0 against Canas, with that win coming last year at Miami.

The last fourth round match on the bottom half of the draw features two unseeded players – Hyung-Taik Lee and Stanislas Wawrinka. Lee played a great match to defeat #5 David Ferrer 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-6(3). Wawrinka beat #18 Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-0, and is 1-0 against Lee with that win coming in Canada last year.

The top half of the men’s draw will play their third round matches today.

Ivanovic, Jankovic advance

Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic and third-seeded Jelena Jankovic both advanced to the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open. Ivanovic defeated Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 6-0 and will now face #13 Francesca Schiavone, whom she is 1-0 against. 

Not to be outdone, Jankovic only lost two games in her 6-1, 6-1 rout of #27 Ai Sugiyama. Jankovic will now take on Anabel Medina Garrigues, who beat Evgeniya Rodina 6-3, 7-5. Jankovic is 2-0 against Garrigues, with one of those wins coming last year in Berlin.

Also winning were #6 Marion Bartoli, #12 Vera Zvonareva, #24 Lindsay Davenport, and unseeded Casey Dellacqua. Bartoli moved past Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-6(3) and will take on Davenport in the fourth round. Davenport needed three sets to get by Yung-Jan Chan 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, and is 2-1 in her career against Bartoli.

Finally, #12 Vera Zvonareva blew by Russian qualifier Galina Voskoboeva 6-0, 6-3 and will take on Australian Casey Dellacqua in the fourth round. Dellacqua won when her opponent, #32 Tamira Paszek, retired losing 6-1, 4-0. This will be the first career meeting between Zvonareva and Dellacqua.

Both the top and bottom halves of the women’s draw will play their fourth round matches today.

Harmon to lead Olympic team

Patrick McEnore will not be leading the American Olympic team into China in August of this year. He has decided to pass on the Olympics, and will be replaced by Rodney Harmon. McEnroe’s decision to step down comes days after Andy Roddick has decided he will skip the Olympics to prepare for the US Open.

Good luck to Rodney and our boys in Beijing!