It was a tale of two defending champions late on Monday afternoon at the BNP Paribas Open.  While 2013 women’s champion Maria Sharapova could not shake off the rust against a mercurial Italian, 2013 men’s champion Rafael Nadal suffered his first loss in North America since 2012.  Both matches were epic thrillers that tested the wills and nerves of all four players from start to finish.  Both thus deserve a detailed look.

The first half of 2014 has unfolded very differently for Sharapova than the first half of 2012 and the first half of 2013.  In each of the two previous years, she built on a deep run at the Australian Open to unleash outstanding performances at the marquee North American tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.  This year, by contrast, Sharapova fell relatively meekly in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Dominika Cibulkova, who eventually reached the final but lacks the Russian’s stellar resume. 

The four-time major champion also sustained a surprising loss to compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at a small indoor tournament in Paris last month.  Sharapova thus brought little momentum to her title defense in the desert, and a trip to Sochi for the Winter Olympics interrupted her preparation.  Moreover, Giorgi had announced herself as a dangerous dark horse last summer by reaching the second week of the US Open, upsetting former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.  Still, few would have predicted a third-round loss for Sharapova, especially in the wake of a commanding performance against Julia Goerges during which she did not drop serve.

In the first set on Monday, Sharapova did nothing but drop serve.  Unable to hold even once, she stayed within range by subjecting Giorgi to relentless pressure in her own service games.  Both women inflicted many of their serving woes upon themselves, combining for 13 double faults in the set.  Of the first 20 second-serve points, the player returning serve won 19.  But the fiery Italian survived two long deuce games near the end of the set to earn a vital lead. 

The tenor of the match changed abruptly in the second set, during which both women dominated on serve until near the end.  Sharapova could not quite ride a solitary break to the finish line as she double-faulted on set point.  She regrouped with the poise of a champion one game later, though, to catch Giorgi off guard and break for the set.

Earlier in the afternoon, Andy Murray had mentioned the importance of carrying momentum from a positive second set into the decisive third set.  Murray fell short in that task but eventually won anyway. Sharapova also fell short as her faltering return game let Giorgi off the hook early in the third set.  Gifted two easy holds, the Italian underdog broke and built a 4-2 lead.  Then, the twists and turns accelerated to a dizzying speed.

A dismal service game from Giorgi at 4-3 threw Sharapova a lifeline, but she could not capitalize.  Bold returning from the Italian, unruffled by her lapse, earned her a chance to serve for the match at 5-4.  That attempt unfolded about as one would expect from a player of Giorgi’s inexperience.  The Italian missed a routine smash, flared groundstrokes over the baseline early in rallies, and essentially handed Sharapova a chance to start over at 5-5.  Repaying that favor with a favor of her own, Sharapova donated a break at love in her last service game. 

Considering those jagged seesaws, a third-set tiebreak might have seemed the best way of deciding an encounter in which both women rarely played their best at the same time.  It was not to be.  While Giorgi started her second attempt to serve for the match with nervy play, she converted her first match point with confident first strikes.  A desperation lob from Sharapova floated harmlessly over the baseline to give the Italian her first victory over a top-five opponent.

After the match, the four-time major champion lamented her lack of fitness and match play, which she felt proved costly in her recent three-set losses.  (Sharapova has lost third sets at each of her last three tournaments, something that she hadn’t done in nearly a decade.)  An injury hiatus in the second half of 2013 continues to clog with rust the gears of a game centered upon extreme precision.  Sharapova also noted that significant changes to her team, such as new coach Sven Groeneveld, require a period to adjust.  She did not record her best results under former coach Thomas Hogstedt until several months after their partnership began.

For her part, Giorgi emphasized the importance of winning the first set.  She implied that the victory ranked as the most significant of her career.  Ahead for Giorgi is a date with countrywoman Flavia Pennetta, who halted her breakthrough run at the US Open.  Giorgi seemed to suffer from an emotional hangover after her victory over Wozniacki at that tournament, and the same situation looms now.  She must refocus on the task at hand within 24 hours of toppling Sharapova, for all of the women’s fourth-round matches unfold on Tuesday. 

One upset often seems to spawn another, and Rafael Nadal had looked fragile in his first match.  Struggling on serve against Radek Stepanek two days ago, he came within a few points of a three-set loss before prevailing by the narrowest of margins.  But Nadal has started his 2014 campaign far more impressively than Sharapova, reaching the final of all three events that he has entered and winning two of them.  One of those two titles came against the man whom he faced on Monday:  Alexandr Dolgopolov.

The men’s defending champion started with authority in breaking the eccentric Dolgopolov to open their third-round encounter.  Nadal never had lost a set to the Ukrainian, although they had contested a tight clash on the clay of Rio de Janeiro last month.  That trend ended as the desert sun sank on Monday.  Able to recover the initial break of serve, Dolgopolov benefited from uncharacteristic errors off Nadal’s forehand to serve for the first set.  Although Nadal would earn a break point, a netted second-serve return gave the Ukrainian the respite that he needed.

Dolgopolov’s smooth net play and explosive serving thrust the world No. 1 into a one-set hole for the second straight match.  Like Sharapova, Nadal regrouped in the manner of a true champion.  He dominated on his serve in the second set and rode a single break midway through the set to level the match.  Also like Sharapova, however, he could not extend the momentum into the final set.

Each man held serve comfortably through the first five games when Dolgopolov unleashed one of the untouchable bursts of shot-making that makes him so lethal.  A blizzard of sharply angled groundstrokes, almost half-volleyed as they bounced, combined with deft touch around the net to hand him a crucial break in the sixth game. 

But the similarities with the Sharapova match did not end there.  Dolgopolov failed to serve out the match at 5-3, dropping serve at love with the sort of edgy, indecisive errors that Giorgi donated at the same stage.  Sensing his opportunity, Nadal reeled off 13 straight points from 2-5, 0-15 to 5-5 15-0.  A collapse looked imminent, yet Dolgopolov dug in his heels and rediscovered his first serve.  Forward they plowed to a decisive tiebreak, nothing seeming to separate the two men.

Most would have expected that virtual coin flip to awaken the nerves in the underdog.  But Nadal had struggled in final-set tiebreaks at Masters 1000 tournaments on outdoor hard courts throughout his career, winning just three of 10.  He seized an early lead despite tentative shot selection, moving ahead 4-2 as they changed sides.  From there, Dolgopolov took command.  A forehand winner, an ace, and a service winner suddenly forced Nadal into a corner at 4-5.  While he seized the next point, the world No. 1 anxiously pushed a groundstroke over the baseline at 5-5 to hand Dolgopolov a match point.

At first, fortune seemed to have saved Nadal when his Hawkeye challenge overturned an apparent match-ending ace.  After waiting to shake hands at the net, Dolgopolov walked back to hit a second serve.  A whirlwind of thoughts must have raced through his head, but it was a whirlwind of blistering groundstrokes that he unleashed on the next point to earn his first career win over a reigning No. 1.  Both defending champions had exited Indian Wells in the third round of the 2014 BNP Paribas Open.

Ever the cool customer, Dolgopolov projected nothing but nonchalance in the interview room.  He mentioned that he was uncertain whether his first serve on the decisive point had landed out, so he expected Nadal to challenge.  While the extremely close call briefly stunned him, he quickly walked back to the baseline and refocused.  In Dolgopolov’s view, players like him now have begun to believe against the elite contenders who have dominated them for so long.

One could say the same, surely, of rising talents in the WTA as well as the ATP.  The upsets of Sharapova and Nadal on Monday at the BNP Paribas Open showcased the depth on both Tours and hinted that the tennis landscape soon could change even more.