Indian Wells Wide Open (Again) with Henin and Sveta Losing.

Why is it that the Indian Wells women’s event always finds itself wide open each year with shock upsets and unknowns breaking through? Looks like that will be the case for 2010 with the early exit of wildcard (and many thought the favorite) Justine Henin and today’s exit by the top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova by Carla Suarez Navarro. Any attempts at this point to pick a favorite to win could almost be a waste of time.

No. 1 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Kuznetsova had 69 unforced errors in the match but she did try against the talented Spainard whose all-court game can test anybody on any day. Of all the top players, I thought “Sveta” would have a decent run at the event, but her form has been up and down lately and she may again find her best results on the slow red clay.

One could say her loss opens things up for Kim Clijsters who plays later today, but I wouldn’t make a Clijsters a sure bet yet.

Yesterday, the losses in the women’s draw could have been almost U.S. Open like with No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki somehow finding her game in the third set as she won in three over American Vania King 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 while No. 10 seed Maria Sharapova took three sets as well to take out Vera Dushevina 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Elena Dementieva also took three sets to win while No. 7 seed Na Li found herself bounced out by Great Britain’s Elena Baltacha in, you guessed it, three sets with two tiebreaks.

But Gisela Dulko’s 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win over wildcard Justine Henin in the second round not only opened up the tourney for those in the bottom half of the draw but also raises questions about Henin’s comeback. Her serving is still an issue as she continues to work it out but I wouldn’t expect Henin to dwell too much on the loss. But it shows that the other women on tour aren’t afraid of Henin and, if their nerves hold up as Dulko’s did, they feel like they have a chance against the Belgian. Would they have said that during the Henin 1.0 years?

Related posts:

1. Indian Wells Women’s Draw – A Cakewalk for Henin?
2. Henin Dismissed By Dulko in Second Round of Indian Wells.
3. Indian Wells Preview – Tennis and Not Much Else.
4. Henin and Delpo Survive AO Day 3– Barely.
5. Sveta Tweets. But What is She Saying?

Tagged as: Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva, Indian Wells, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Na Li, Svetlana Kuznetsova