Angelique Kerber Tumbles Out of Yet Another Opener
Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open champion, crashed out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., on Saturday. Kerber lost her opening match in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, to Denisa Allertova.
Kerber, ranked No. 2 in the world, defeated Serena Williams in the Australian Open final in January for the first Grand Slam tournament victory of her career.
But Kerber’s biggest problem on the WTA Tour has been inconsistency. She played superbly in Australia but then lost her first match at Doha in February. This is the third straight year she has lost her opening match at Indian Wells.
“I achieved my goal of winning a Grand Slam; nobody can take that away from me,” she said. “If you lose in the first round, you always have the next week to make it better.”
Kerber, 28, said there were more demands on her time since her victory in Australia.
“The pressure is much different than it was a few months ago,” she said. “I will try to learn from this experience. It was a busy week for me. It is a new situation I have to try to get used to.”
Kerber, of Germany, said the trophy she won at the Australian Open recently arrived at her home was sitting in the middle of her living room.
“It was a great feeling, and it is the highlight of my career right now,” she said.
Kerber had no aces and four double faults on Saturday. Her serve was broken four times in a 98-minute match in the main stadium.
“I had my chances in the second set and I didn’t take them,” she said.
Allertova, 23, of the Czech Republic, advanced to the third round of the tournament, which is a joint WTA and ATP event. Allertova will next face Johanna Konta of Britain.
This was the first career meeting between Kerber and Allertova and the first time Allertova played in the main draw at Indian Wells.
“I tried to focus on every shot, play into the court and just play my best,” Allertova said.
In other early women’s matches, seventh-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland beat Laura Davis of the United States, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
On the men’s side, 12th-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada routed Iñigo Cervantes-Huegun of Spain, 6-1, 6-3; eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet beat Nicolas Mahut, 6-4, 6-1, in an all-French matchup; sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic beat Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina, 7-6 (4), 6-2; and Gaël Monfils of France defeated Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain, 7-5, 7-6 (1).
DISPUTED CURSE WORD Nick Kyrgios of Australia was involved in a fresh dispute after being accused of swearing at the BNP Paribas Open.
At 2-2 in the second set of Kyrgios’s second-round loss to Albert Ramos of Spain, the umpire Damien Dumusois said Kyrgios had used foul language and docked him a point.
“You used the ‘F’ word,” Dumusois said.
Kyrgios protested and, after briefly taking a seat in the crowd, approached Dumusois.
“I didn’t say anything,” he said.
Dumusois said he trusted the official who had reported the incident. Ramos went on to win the match, 7-6 (4), 7-5.
In Canada in August, a courtside microphone picked up a comment Kyrgios directed at opponent Stan Wawrinka.
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The comment, about Wawrinka’s girlfriend, earned Kyrgios a suspended 28-day ban and a $25,000 fine.
He had already been fined the on-site maximum of $10,000 for the offense and a further $2,500 for remarks directed at a ball person.
Last week Kyrgios became embroiled in another spat when Bernard Tomic accused Kyrgios, his countryman, of feigning illness to miss a Davis Cup match that Australia lost to the United States. (REUTERS)
SUPPORT FOR NADAL Real Madrid, the Spanish soccer giant, joined the defense of Rafael Nadal after doping accusations made by Roselyne Bachelot, the former French minister for health and sport. Bachelot said on French television on Thursday that Nadal’s seven-month injury hiatus in 2012 was “probably due to a positive doping test.”
On Saturday, Real Madrid expressed its “total support” for Nadal and called the accusations “unjustifiable and intolerable.”
Nadal is a prominent fan of Madrid and a “member of honor” of the club. The Spanish Olympic Committee, the national team manager Vicente del Bosque and Barcelona Coach Luis Enrique have also supported Nadal, who denies any wrongdoing. (AP