Kerber's hopes cooked in California sunshine

World No 1 books early exit while Peng makes Venus work for win

INDIAN WELLS, California - Angelique Kerber won't celebrate her return to world No 1 with an Indian Wells title after a stunning fourth-round exit to Elena Vesnina on Tuesday.

Vesnina, seeded 14th, toppled Kerber 6-3, 6-3 in the desert heat to book a quarterfinal clash at the BNP Paribas Open with seven-time Grand Slam champ Venus Williams.

Earlier on Tuesday, Williams battled back from a break down in the final set to beat Chinese qualifier Peng Shuai 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

"I wasn't really sure how it was going to turn out today," Williams said.

"There were some ups and downs and errors. It was so frustrating, but I got my focus more in that second set and towards the end of the third, because I'm just a competitor. If things get closer, then my better tennis is going to come."

Vesnina's victory was the 30-year-old Russian's first over a top-three player.

Kerber was the top-ranked player in the draw, and will still be ranked world No 1 on Monday thanks to Serena Williams' injury withdrawal from the event.

Vesnina went up a quick break and never trailed. She broke Kerber five times, and managed to stifle a would-be rally that saw the German close the gap from 4-1 to 4-3 in the second set.

"I was a little nervous at the end of the match," Vesnina said. "I'm really happy that I closed that match because this win means a lot tome."

Kerber, winner of last year's Australian and US Opens, struggled past 62nd-ranked Pauline Parmentier in the previous round and said she never found her rhythm against Vesnina.

"It was not my day," Kerber said. "I was doing a lot of mistakes. I was not moving good.

"But it's happened. I mean, from beginning to end she was aggressive and played good tennis. She took the game in her hands."

Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded eighth, sped past Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-4 to lead the way into the quarters.

Kuznetsova is in the last eight in the California desert for the first time since reaching back-to-back finals in 2007 and 2008.

Roger, Rafa meet again

In the men's tournament, the Indian Wells Masters, Roger Federer edged American Steve Johnson 7-6(3), 7-6(4) in a hard-serving duel, setting up a fourth-round match with Rafa Nadal.

Swiss great Federer fired 12 aces. The fastest of the 35-year-old's serves registered 131mph.

Federer never faced a break point against Johnson, who reached 136mph on the radar gun and fought off all four break points against him.

Nadal beat Frernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-5 to notch his 50th victory at the event, where he's won three titles but none since 2013.

Five-time Indian Wells champion Novak Djokovic defeated 2013 finalist Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 and next faces Nick Kyrgios in the same quarter of the draw as Federer and Nadal.

The last of Federer's four Indian Wells titles was in 2012, while the last of his 18 Grand Slams came in January when he beat Nadal in the Australian Open final.

Their match on Wednesday will be the earliest stage of an event they have faced each other since their first encounter in 2004 at Miami.

"Because it's early in the tournament, I think we both don't quite yet know to 100 percent how everything feels," Federer said.

"There is a bit of the unknown, which is exciting maybe for the fans to see how we're going to try to figure that part out."

Agence France-Presse