Top players hit stumbling blocks
Jeff Gross/Getty ImagesAndy Murray is the lone Big Four member who has breezed through the draw. The big names remain alive, albeit tenuously, at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are still on course, however, to meet in the California desert in what would be their first head-to-head in a hard-court Masters final in four years.
Reeling with the habitual absence of the Williams sisters, the women's draw took a further hit when sprightly Serb Jelena Jankovic and workmanlike Russian Elena Dementieva bid adieu early.
The first week produced plenty of other story lines, some more obvious than others. Here's a closer look.
Sitting prettyOf the big four, Andy Murray showed up at Indian Wells with the slimmest chance. After all, he had dropped a few pounds courtesy of a lingering virus and admitted he wasn't 100 percent.
Things are suddenly looking up for the scrambling Scot.
Murray, taking advantage of a comfy draw, hasn't dropped a set, and don't expect that to change when he confronts Croat Ivan Ljubicic in their quarterfinal Thursday. While Tommy Robredo's abrupt retirement meant Murray advanced in 50 minutes Wednesday, Ljubicic toiled for three hours against Russian Igor Andreev.
Federer, Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic all struggled in the fourth round.
Nadal saved five match points against chum David Nalbandian, Federer needed three sets to topple the streaky Fernando Gonzalez, and Djokovic looked unconvincing in a 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) win over unpredictable Swiss No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka.
The two mouthwatering quarterfinals see Federer challenging reborn Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and Djokovic battling Andy Roddick in the latest installment of their charged-up rivalry.
No kissing and making up
The handshake revealed all.
After Gonzalez dispatched James Blake 7-5, 6-1 in the third round, the two exchanged a cold tap at the net without making much eye contact or uttering a word.
Blake, of course, had accused Gonzalez of cheating in the semifinals of last summer's Olympics in Beijing. Deep in the third set, he felt that a passing shot struck Gonzalez's racket before sailing long; the umpire didn't agree, and the Chilean earned the point. After the match, Gonzalez claimed he wasn't sure whether the ball glanced his racket.
"I said what I said in China [and] absolutely stick to it," Blake professed Tuesday. "I respect his game too much to ever short-change it. I wouldn't do that, so it's still what I have to say about it, and I sleep very well at night thanks to that."
The ill feeling overshadowed a worrying performance by Blake, who is still No. 2 in the U.S. Blake disintegrated from 5-5 in the first, looking downright disinterested at times, and failed to connect with an expectant crowd.
Don't book dinner just yet
Radek Stepanek possesses a lovely all-court game and has used it to good effect in 2009, winning a pair of titles. He's been known to rile a few with his antics, however, and San Francisco native Sam Querrey became ticked Sunday.
Querrey, who has progressed nicely this season, upset Stepanek 6-4, 6-3 in the terse affair.
"We kind of bumped shoulders in the changeover one of the times," Querrey said. "He kind of went at me on one shot. I mean, I was staring him down at every point; he was staring me down. If a fight broke out, I'd probably have it covered with the backup I had in the stands."
The 21-year-old wouldn't need the help: He's 6-foot-6 and weighs roughly 210 pounds, while Stepanek stands 6-foot-1 and tips the scales at a mere 170 pounds.
Querrey somehow lost 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8) to Wawrinka in the third round. Querrey hit more aces, registered a higher first-serve percentage, won more points behind the first delivery, collected more breaks and actually tallied more points altogether.
Did we mention he blew two match points?
It's a start
Remember Nicole Vaidisova, the once can't-miss Sharapova-like prospect who's now better known as Stepanek's girlfriend?
Well, the 19-year-old won back-to-back matches for the first time since last year's Wimbledon by taking out Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek -- she's seen better days, too -- and Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.
Vaidisova, who has slipped to 79th in the rankings after achieving a career high of seventh less than two years ago, was broken once in the opening two rounds.
All good things come to an end, or so they say, and in Round 3, the Florida-based Czech fell to American Jill Craybas in straight sets. Armed with potentially one of the biggest serves around, Vaidisova faced a staggering 18 break points.
Craybas, 35 in July, had won a solitary WTA match in 2009 before Indian Wells.
Musketeers missing
France's exciting young guns failed to deliver at Davis Cup duty this month, with an earlier-than-expected exit against Stepanek and the Czechs.
The woe continues.
The altitudinous American, John Isner, eliminated ninth-ranked Gael Monfils in the second round; Gilles Simon, at No. 8, got sunk by Ljubicic in the third round following an almighty tussle versus Yen-Hsun Lu; Verdasco upended Richard Gasquet, No. 24, in the third round; and 11th-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, suffering slightly from an allergy, couldn't down Andreev in the third round.
"It's true that the series against the Czech Republic had a little influence on my tennis," Tsonga declared, even though he triumphed in both his matches in Ostrava. "We can also imagine that Davis Cup gives you a little added stress."
Tsonga and Simon need some rest.
At least it was dramatic
There was plenty of tension in Daniela Hantuchova's second-round win over Yanina Wickmayer -- the former prevailed 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in nearly three hours.
But it was no classic.
The encounter featured 25 break points -- six were converted -- and 16 double faults.
Not to be outdone, 28 break points popped up in Gonzalez's second-round win over fading two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt. The Aussie, like Hantuchova, is a two-time victor in Indian Wells, and he went an ugly 3-for-17 on break points.
Nicely done
Dinara Safina fields incessant questions about her lovably charismatic big brother, Marat Safin, and continues to handle them with aplomb, as evidenced by this exchange Sunday:
Q: When you go through a press conference like this and your brother is not brought up, no one talks about him at all, do you go back to the locker room and celebrate?
Safina: Yeah, but it never happened, you know. There was no press conference they would not ask about my brother. So you see, even today you ask, so I cannot celebrate.
Laughter ensued.
Safina, chasing the No. 1 ranking, had little reason to celebrate Wednesday, losing to one of the hottest players around, Victoria Azarenka.
Beaten to the punch
Even the glitterati have to deal with jet lag, and undisputed world No. 1 Nadal is no exception.
Nadal traveled from Spain to California early last week -- the time difference is eight hours -- and predictably had a tough time adjusting.
What did he do one morning after rising at 4:15, about the same time as his occasional coach, Francisco Roig?
"It was funny because we are in a bungalow, and we have a Jacuzzi outside," Nadal said. "I go with the towel and saw him inside."
More laughs from the press corps.
Baby Goran is fine
He vomited and generally felt unwell -- but that was great news for fans of Mario Ancic.
When the affable Croat withdrew from his second-round match against Ljubicic, citing illness, the question became: Had the mono resurfaced?
No, says his agent, Olivier van Lindonk.
Ancic, first struck by mono as he sought a spot inside the top 5 two years ago, will be ready for the upcoming Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Ravi Ubha is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.
