Gamiaw Bulletin

Serena in, Maria out

by AP

Indian Wells, Calif. — Struggling with her serve and a rash of errors, Serena Williams overcame a slow start to beat Sloane Stephens, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2, in the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday, extending her winning streak to 14 matches.

Maria Sharapova struggled mightily, too, losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to defending champion Flavia Pennetta, who won her ninth straight match after becoming emotional and leaving the court in the first set.

American Serena Williams appears exasperated after losing a point against Sloane Stephens during their third round duel in the BNP Paribas Open Tuesday in Indian Wells, California. Williams recovered from a slow start to win, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2. (AP)

Four-time Indian Wells champion Roger Federer defeated Andreas Seppi, 6-3, 6-4, avenging his third-round loss to Seppi at the Australian Open.

Seppi fought off three match points on his serve to trail 5-4 in the third set. He netted a forehand to give Federer a fourth match point in the next game, and the Swiss star closed it out with a forehand winner in the corner.

Seppi’s win Down Under stopped a 10-match skid against Federer. The Italian broke Federer to tie it up 3-all in the second, but Federer broke back on a forehand winner in the next game to take a lead he never gave up.

Sixth-seeded Milos Raonic beat Alexandr Dolgopolov, 7-6 (2), 6-4; No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov lost to 17th-seeded Tommy Robredo, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5; Jack Sock upset 15th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.