Three minutes a day, knowing about tennis in the world. Hello fans, today is Thursday, March 13, 2025, and welcome to the afternoon newsletter brought to you by "Home of Tennis".
This morning, Beijing time, the ATP/WTA1000 Indian Wells Open ended the fourth round of singles competition, and the quarterfinals were all produced. Men's Singles: Defending champion and Spanish star Alcaraz continued unabated, beating Bulgaria's Dimitrov 6-1 6-1 to advance to the quarter-finals. He will next face 25th seed and rising Argentine star F-Cerundolo, who knocked out Australian hare De Minaur 7-5 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
13th seed and British No.1 Desper continued his hot streak with a 7-5 6-4 win over former tournament champion and American Fritz to reach the quarter-finals for the first time. He will next face another homegrown player, Shelton, who defeated compatriot Nakashima Brandon 7-6(6) 6-1.
In a previous match, Russia's Dmitry Medvedev swept past homegrown player Paul 6-4 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament for the third year in a row and will face France's rising star Fez for a place in the semi-finals.
Women's Field: Top seed and world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Great Britain's lucky loser Qatar 6-1 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament for the second time in her career and the quarterfinals of the 1000 tournament for the 25th time. She will next face rising Russian star Samsonova, who defeated sixth seed and Italian Tinni Paulini 6-0 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in her career.
New Australian Open champion and fifth seed Keith defeated Croatia's Vekic 4-6 7-6(7) 6-3 to win 15 straight matches and reach the quarterfinals of a 1000 tournament for the 13th time in his career. She will next face Switzerland's Bencic for a place in the semi-finals, who avenged her Australian Open defeat at the Australian Open 3-6 6-3 6-4 over third seed and rising American Gauff.
In a highlight-reel match in the fourth round yesterday afternoon, ninth seed and rising Russian star Mila Andreeva swept past former tournament champion and Kazakhstan's Rybakina 6-1 6-2 to defeat her opponent in two consecutive tournaments and reach the quarterfinals for the first time with a wave of nine straight wins. Next, she will compete with Ukrainian cabbage Svitolina for a place in the semi-finals.
In another match of Chinese fandom, eighth seed and China's No. 1 sister Zheng Qinwen defeated 18th seed and rising Ukrainian star Kostyuk 6-3 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of this tournament for the first time in her career, and will face defending champion Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
After the game, the first sister of China said in response to a reporter's question that she and Swiatek are currently about the same in terms of technical level and hitting options, and they are evenly matched in strength. For this key matchup, Xiao Zheng said that he would go all out to fight and hope for a good result. According to the schedule, the quarterfinals match between the two will be played at around 2 o'clock in the morning tomorrow Beijing time, and fans and friends watching the game will have to stay up late!
Doubles: In a quarter-final match, China's fifth seeds Zhang Shuai/Xie Shuwei beat fourth seeds Ostapenko/Pérez 7-5 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals.
Finally, let's guess and recognize. The picture below is of a player on vacation. Can you recognize who she is without prompting?
In the last guess, Beijing's "Gandolfini" golfers gave the correct answer. That's right, the person in the picture is the American star Collins.
(Source: Tennis Home Author: Maverick)