Sport Scribe

INDIAN WELLS GETS UNDERWAY IN AFTERMATH OF SHARAPOVA'S FAILED DRUG TEST

3/13/2016

Week Ten was dominated by the news of Maria Sharapova's failed drug test. Ahead of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, "Meldonium" became a very familiar word to tennis fans. The other big story this week, of course, was Venus Williams' return to Indian Wells for the first time in 15 years. After Serena ended the family boycott last year, Venus followed suit this week wearing a wide smile when she entered Stadium 1 to rapturous applause. For Serena, her appearance this week was her first official event on tour since the Australian Open in January. On the men's side, Indian Wells is without Roger Federer who is recovering from knee surgery, and Andy Murray makes his first tour appearance since the Australian Open.

Let's have a closer look at what's been happening #ThisWeekInTennis!

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RUNDOWN

Sharapova dominated news in the early going of Indian Wells. Check out the "On The Web" section for some of the pieces that have been written on the story in the past week.
Venus Williams made her return to Indian Wells official on Friday. Sadly, for Venus and her fans, she lost in straight sets to Kurumi Nara. Watch the the welcome she received and Venus' reaction HERE.
Serena followed Venus two matches later on Stadium 1 with a 6-2 6-1 win over Laura Siegemund. It was the world #1's first tour match since losing in the Australian Open final to Angelique Kerber.
Speaking of the Australian Open champ, Kerber lost her opening match 5-7 5-7 to Allertova. Since winning her first Grand Slam, Kerber went 1-1 in Fed Cup and has now lost her first match in consecutive events.
Muguruza's struggles in 2016 continued as she exited in the 2nd round to Christina McHale. The Spaniard is now just 6-5 on the year.
Taylor Townsend made it through the qualifying draw before losing in the first round. After entering last year's event ranked #96, Townsend will leave the desert just inside #400. Hopefully, this result is a sign of better things to come.
Shuai Peng made her first singles appearance on the WTA since last year's French Open (back). Currently ranked #768, the 2014 U.S. Open semifinalist lost 0-6 1-6 to Putintseva in the first round.
Laura Robson is on the comeback trail. Despite a first round loss, Robson claims to be ready to resume a full schedule on the WTA tour.
Stosur and Ivanovic both saved match points before advancing to the third round with a pair of 3-set victories.

WTA Indian Wells DRAW

PRESS

Q. Do you think back to the last time you were in that stadium? The stadium itself hasn't maybe changed much. Do you ever flash back to that? VENUS WILLIAMS: Is the stadium bigger? It looks really -- it's big. (Smiling.) I didn't actually think back to that. I definitely live in the now and it was a long time ago. Serena and I have been able to do a lot of positive things in our lives since then. Hopefully those positive things have affected a lot of people. That's what we focused on more than anything. I think when she came back it wasn't an easy decision. You never know what was going to happen. But she had so much courage to do so. It made it so easy for me. I felt like when I came out here I was able to focus on the tennis and not on, oh, my gosh, what's gonna happen.

Q. Probably as much as any other athlete, you have had so many triumphs and challenges, so many chapters. Venus lost tonight, but it was a wonderful night, also. Do you think in some way her coming back is to close a chapter on all that occurred, that it's time to move on?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. Definitely. I think it wasn't about winning. When I come here, even to this day it's not about winning. It's just about closing that chapter in my life and her life and our lives and try to move on with our heads up, as we always had our heads up. But just continue to do that.

Q. Do you think you are satisfied with the way you and Venus have navigated through all this? Do you think it could be an example to others? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I hope so. We always try to be an example, positive role model, and a positive example to our colleagues as well as people that are outside of tennis and everyone of all walks of life

Q. Last year you had that French Open, Wimbledon --
SIMONA HALEP: Don't remember me, please.

Q. I'm sorry I have to remind you. You were disappointed by all that. Then you came to North America and had a very good North American summer. Is that at all similar to how you felt after Australia and then having a bit of a longer break after the Middle East?
SIMONA HALEP: No. Was different. Last year was just about the pressure. I couldn't handle it and I wanted too much from me. I wanted to win all the matches. It was like if I did the final one year before I have to do the same thing, so it's a big mistake. If you think like this you cannot play anymore. You are very stressed. This year I was very sick. I couldn't practice. After 10 minutes I was very tired on court. So I got a little bit scared about it, and, you know, I lost the power. I lost my legs. I lost the confidence. That's why I couldn't win matches. Actually, in Sydney I didn't play too bad, but after that I got the infection, nose infection, and was very bad for me. But I want to forget it. Actually not forget it but just to keep it away a little bit, because now I feel good. I eat pretty good now, so everything is good. If I can run, it's all good.

Q. It's been quite a controversial week, if you like, for women's tennis. Over the years you have stood up and been a spokesman on several issues. What's your take on the whole Maria business? VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, any time I have spoken up on issues is because I know the facts. In this case I don't. I guess they are finding the facts now. That's, I guess, a discovery period. So what can you say? What I do know is that in the past she's been very competitive. I think she has been a role model for a lot of people. She has a ton of fans, and I think she's affected a lot of lives in a positive way. Hopefully that will won't be the end of that.

Q. How are you doing with all the post-concussion stuff since Australia? Everything been okay on that front?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah. Thank you for asking. You know, once in a while I feel like I have little lapses, and I think that's still maybe to be expected. You never know exactly, you know, how you're going to heal from these things or how long it will take. In Malaysia I felt like I suffered some symptoms. As I have been here in this great desert, dry weather, I have been great. Just something I constantly monitor. Just trying to stay on top of it.

Q. You and Sam have had a couple of sort of testy coaching timeouts where he comes on and gets more emotional than maybe most players and coaches during timeouts. Is that how things are usually with you or something in the heat of the match that you both get worked up?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: No. I think it's just if you're in a tennis match you are always very emotional and you're fighting in just kind of a way what you feel. I don't think is there anything wrong to do so. Sometimes there is a camera. You forget. And the microphone, obviously. But I just think it's normal to express to your coach what you feel. And that's it. I mean, there is no big deal.

Q. Do you feel different about your tennis? A Grand Slam champion. Do you feel a different sort of expectation on the court for yourself when you start a tournament? ANGELIQUE KERBER: It's much more different because I have much more things to do off court. I'm here one week and, yeah, it was a busy week for me. But still, I mean, I'm trying -- I have my team and I'm trying to go out there, work my tennis, improve it. Yeah, and like I said, it's a completely new situation. I will try to get used to it and, yeah, and let's see. I mean, yeah, I'm working hard still and my game will not change. I mean, my game is like it is. I try to improve like few more things into it, but at the end I will still play like I was playing the last years.

*You can access press transcripts from the BNP Paribas Open HERE