Croatian tennis player Petra Martić failed to advance to the semifinal of the so-called 'fifth Grand Slam tournament' of the season, Indian Wells, after losing in the quarterfinals to the world’s best female tennis player Simona Halep 4-6, 7-6 (5), 3-6.
Until the quarterfinal, Petra Martić achieved four wins without losing a single set, and to be honest, in the quarterfinal match against the no. 1 player in the world, Petra had nothing to lose. Though our Croatian star was full of confidence, unfortunately, the victory was won by the other side. Martić had a break in the decisive third set and led 3-1, but could not endure. The Romanian nailed five games to place the result into her hands, reports Gol.hr on March 15, 2018.
It was the third match between Martić and Halep and the second win for the Romanian tennis player. Halep celebrated in 2015 in Guangzhou, while Martić was better in 2011 in Copenhagen. The quarterfinal match lasted two hours and 24 minutes.
21-year-old Croatian tennis star Borna Ćorić, on the other hand, is Croatia’s shining light still fighting in Indian Wells. Ćorić managed to advance to the quarterfinal of ATP Masters 1000 tournament, defeating world no. 74, American Taylor Fritz 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-4, reports Gol.hr on March 15, 2018.
Ćorić has achieved one of his biggest career goals, and in a fair duel with Fritz which lasted two hours and 15 minutes, Ćorić could have reached his victory even sooner with a match-point and 4-0 lead in a tie-break in the second set.
Ćorić started the match excellently, and with two breaks he easily took the first set with 6-2. In the second, Fritz served for the set at 5-3, but Borna returned and managed to pull the set in a tie-break. The Zagreb player brilliantly opened the 13th game, but then lost five points in a row. At 6-5, on Fritz's service, Borna missed the match ball, and at 7-8, he gave the set to Fritz after he sent a lightweight volley to the net.
In the decisive set, Fritz led 2-0, Ćorić returned on the lost service for 2-2, then at 4-4 saved the break. In the next round, Borna missed two more match balls, and Fritz’s double error on the service finally helped him to secure the victory.
This was the second match between Ćorić and Fritz and the second win of the Croatian player who will fight for a place in the semifinal against the winner of South African Kevin Anderson and Spaniard Pablo Carreno-Busta.
