Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Nadal, Sharapova Set to Play at BNP Paribas Open today

The world’s three top players — Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray — and fifth-ranked Rafael Nadal are scheduled to play today as the men’s singles round of 16 is contested at tennis’s BNP Paribas Open.

The women will begin quarterfinal singles play at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden with two matches. Fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic will face 13th-seeded Maria Kirlenko of Russia in an afternoon match and second-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia will meet sixth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy to begin night play.

Djokovic will face 23rd-seeded Sam Querrey, the final American remaining in singles play, to conclude the night session.

“I’m just going to hopefully play well, hopefully be aggressive, hopefully on those break points, deuce points, have some balls go my way,” Querrey said. “I’m going to try and just enjoy it out there. I might have to go outside of my comfort zone a little bit and do things I don’t like to do, and hopefully it will pay off for me.”

Djokovic has won all 15 of his matches this year and has a 20-match winning streak dating back to 2012.

Querrey is the most recent player to defeat Djokovic, winning Oct. 31 in Paris, Querrey’s only triumph over the Serb in their five career matches.

Federer will face his Swiss countryman, 18th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, in the third match on the main court. Federer has defeated Wawrinka in 12 of their 13 meetings, with Wawrinka’s only victory coming four years ago in Monte Carlo.

Murray will face unseeded Carlos Berlocq of Argentina for the first time. Murray has won 12 of his 13 matches this year, with the only loss coming to Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open.

Nadal will meet qualifier Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the fourth match on the stadium court. Gulbis has won 13 consecutive matches and will be playing for the 14th time in 19 days. Nadal has defeated Gulbis all four times they
have met.

In Tuesday’s play, Djokovic defeated 31st-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 7-6 (4), 6-1, Murray defeated Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan, 6-3, 6-2, Querrey defeated unseeded Australian Marinko Matosevic, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (7), 7-5, while the other American in action, 32nd-seeded Mardy Fish, lost to eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (0).

Djokovic trailed 5-2 in the first set, held serve in the eighth game and broke Dimitrov’s serve in the ninth game when he committed four double faults. Djokovic held serve to tie the set, 5-5, then went on to win the tiebreaker.

“I just tried to stay positive and calm and hang in there and wait for the chances,” Djokovic said after sending Dimitrov down to defeat for the 17th time in 18 matches against Top 10 players.

Querrey’s victory will make him the top-ranked American for the first time when the new Association of Tennis Professionals rankings are issued Monday, replacing John Isner, who lost in the second round.

“It means a lot. It’s a great feeling,” Querrey said. “I feel like I have worked hard to earn it. Everyone seems like they’ve got their shot with Andy (Roddick) and Mardy and James (Blake) and John, and so I feel like it’s my
turn now.”

In women’s round of 16 play, top-seeded Victoria Azarenka defeated Urszula Radwanska, 6-3, 6-1, and Sharapova topped Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, 7-5, 6-0.

“It was pretty obvious I wasn’t feeling that well — my ankle was bothering me, it’s been bothering me for a while, and it hasn’t really been getting better,” Azarenka said after improving to 17-0 for the year.

“But on the bright side, I won the match today. I overcame those things and — I don’t know how — managed to just take my opportunities and really go for my shots and make it happen, and not just wait for her mistakes.”

Sharapova trailed 5-4 in the first set and 30-15 in the 10th game, but won the final nine games.

“The first set was so up and down,” Sharapova said. “I knew I had to buckle down and start being more aggressive, stepping in on returns and getting more first serves in.

“She was a tough opponent, but once I started playing more aggressively in the second set, things went much better for me.”