Nineteen-year-old American Christina McHale, ranked 35th, is still the luckiest in her home country. McHale produced the biggest upset so far at Indian Wells by beating world No.3 Petra Kvitova in the third round 2-6 6-2 6-3, while her previous Top 10 wins – over Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli – also took place at the US tournaments.
After losing the first set, McHale took the match to the decider with four straight games won from 2-2 in the second set. McHale raced to a 4-1 lead in the decider, and even though Kvitova approached her to 3-4, McHale finished the match to her advantage.
Another young American is making her mark at Indian Wells – Jamie Hampton didn’t stop after upsetting Jelena Jankovic in the second round, and defeated Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2 6-7(1) 6-2 in the third.
Top seed at the tournament, world No.1 Victoria Azarenka, advanced with a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova, which is her 19th win to zero losses this season. (source: WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)
Upset? The way Kvitova has been playing in 2012, I’m not sure.
I agree, she was talked up like a sure lock for a no.1 and look what happened.