BIG servers Karolina Pliskova, Bianca Andreescu and Reilly Opelka saw their most potent weapon neutralized by strong desert winds on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) as they all crashed out of Indian Wells.
The biggest upset of the day came when tournament lucky loser Beatriz Haddad Maia, ranked 115th in the world, defeated top seed Pliskova 6-3 7-5 in a match where service holds were rare as wind gusts reached 40 miles per hour.
Pliskova, who reached the Wimbledon final in July, issued 12 double faults to five aces and was broken eight times by the Brazilian in their third-round meeting.
Haddad Maia will next face Anett Kontaveit after the Estonian beat defending champion Bianca Andreescu 7-6(5) 6-3 to extend her win streak to eight matches.
Kontaveit, who already has two hard court titles to her name this season, won the last five games of the match to see off the tournament’s 2019 champion from Canada, who also captured the US Open crown that year.
Towering American Reilly Opelka’s thunderous serve lacked its usual bite as he fell 6-3 6-4 to Grigor Dimitrov.
The win spelled vengeance for Dimitrov, who lost to Opelka in straight sets at the Canadian Open in August.
Dimitrov will next face either top-seeded Daniil Medvedev or 27th-seeded Filip Krajinovic, who play later.
In other third-round action, Diego Schwartzman sent Briton Dan Evans packing 5-7 6-4 6-0 and 10th seed Angelique Kerber held on to defeat Daria Kasatkina 6-2 1-6 6-4.
