The WTA has converged on Southern California for two weeks. There’s one week left in the Indian Wells tournament, but before we move forward, let’s look at what’s happened in the first two to three rounds of this tournament, spanning the past five days through Sunday.
Loser: Jelena Jankovic
There is no mistake that Jankovic, in general, is on the decline. Once one of the best players in the world and a genuine threat to win Grand Slam events, Jankovic used to be the kind of player opponents would dread facing at any stage of a tournament, with a few exceptions such as Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova or, more recently, Victoria Azarenka. Now, Jankovic is outside the top 15. She might make a good run once in a while, but her place in the final few matches of the major tournaments on the calendar is an increasingly rare sight. Not much is expected anymore from a player who, to her credit, seems content with enjoying the sport and having fun on the court, not being obsessed with results. Nevertheless, it’s always a big bright spot when Jankovic can string together some match wins at a tournament of consequence. That’s what she’s done thus far. She has to be very pleased by her ability to not only win her third-round match over CoCo Vandeweghe, but to do so decisively. She won a 0 and 1 match over Vandeweghe, a result absolutely no one anticipated. Jankovic is playing better than at any previous point this year. Given the quality of the Indian Wells field, that’s very impressive.
Winner: Timea Bacsinszky
The Swiss veteran was the comeback player of the year on tour last year. She very nearly made the French Open final, coming close to beating Serena Williams in the semifinals. She was a revelation, a player who went deep into a lot of first-tier events after considering giving up tennis a few years earlier. In the early parts of 2016, however, Bacsinszky was a target. Players knew that she was a factor – she did not sneak up on anyone. This made it harder for her to compete, but in Indian Wells, she has moved through the first three rounds and is once again playing the kind of tennis she always knew she could.
Loser: Sloane Stephens
The loss over the weekend to Eugenie Bouchard was a much-hyped match, but beyond the hype, Stephens needed to win that match against one of her age-based contemporaries in order to show that her career was on track. That she lost is a discouraging development in the attempt to raise her ranking and status to the very top class of the sport. We have now seen multiple flashes of greatness from Stephens as she tries to make her ascent up the ranks. Many have projected her to be the next Serena Williams but the wins, production and level of consistency is just not there yet. She has to go back to the drawing board now. It’s going to be a longer process than she might have hoped.
Loser: Venus Williams
The great champion and legend won a victory simply by coming back to Indian Wells after 15 years away from the event and the venue. Perhaps the emotions of the moment got to her, but losing to Kurumi Nara has to rate as a big disappointment for her. This continues what has been a disastrous season for Williams and what many are expecting to be her last. Yes, she did manage to win the tournament in Taiwan, but that was with a very mediocre field. The second seed at that event was Misaki Doi of Japan. Other than that, she lost in the first round at the Australian Open, and in the Round of 32 in Auckland – also her first match. She’s just not the player she once was and unless she turns it around in the second half of the season, this could be her curtain call.
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