BNP Paribas Open: Day 6 Highlights

Week two in tennis paradise has officially began with match scores getting closer and closer and players forced to bring their A-games as we move into the later rounds here in Indian Wells, as always, there were a bunch of great matches here at the Tennis Gardens. There was a Tommy Paul-Hubert Hurkacz matchup, Leylah Fernandez-Caroline Garcia match up… and those were just some of the day matches, but let’s focus in on one match in particular, the Stan Wawrinka and Holger Rune match. The two are not best friends having a history of antics and name calling. In the first set Rune had trouble holding his serve. We saw a steady Wawrinka hitting solid, and able to clinch that first set, 6-2. The second set was quite hectic, Rune was able to hold his own, got some treatment for what looked like to be a shoulder injury and saved a match point on Wawrinka’s serve at 5-4 leading into a tie break where Wawrinka was up 4-0 and Rune had a hot streak taking that set in a tiebreak 7-7(5). Set three was really all about fitness and endurance and who could last longer… in the end, it was Wawrinka’s match up with a 7-5 3rd set score. Here at the BNP Paribas Open, there are players from all around the world, including from right here in the Coachella Valley, like our very own Palm Desert native Desirae Krawczyk. We caught up with her on what it’s like playing here at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. "Oh, I’ve definitely had my coaches from college come out. I’ve had, you know, a lot of support people that I’ve grown up with Coachella Valley." Coachella Valley native Desirae Krawczyk is a fan favorite at the BNP Paribas Open year after year, but that doesn’t mean the four time mixed doubles grand slam champion doesn’t feel pressure when playing right next to her hometown. "Of course, there’s a little bit of pressure, you know, you obviously want to do well at your hometown and you know, try and be here as long as you can." After years of experience on the WTA tour, Krawczyk has found a way to lock in, especially at tournaments like this one. "I try to treat it as, you know, another tournament. Obviously, there’s a lot of noise in the background. A lot of people want to come watch you and I think it’s just kind of keep them focused and going through practice and, you know, trying to improve better." Krawczyk says. Growing up playing tennis Krawczyk was a successful junior and collegiate player giving credit to much of her success in the pros, to her experience in college. "I think college is a great stepping stone to get into the pros. You know, you’re on your own a little bit and you kind of learn to be independent." After some months of experiencing both singles and doubles matches on the tour, Krawczyk found success quite quickly playing doubles. "Actually, you play both singles and doubles in college. So I think I kind of just transitioned pretty quickly into doubles. I didn’t love singles as much. I thought it was pretty lonely. I think I gave it maybe like nine months and I just really, I did pretty well very quickly in the doubles." While traveling around the world to compete at the highest level, Krawczyk does her best to make her way back to the Coachella Valley to see her family and friends. "I do try to come back home for Thanksgiving, and also during this time I see family, friends and try to see as many as I can while I’m out in the desert. So it’s pretty hectic. But now I try to make time for it." She and her doubles partner, Demi Schuurs were seeded fourth here at the BNP Paribas Open, but we’re unfortunately not able to make it to the quarterfinals after losing to Magda Linette and Caty McNally.