Indian Wells 2023: Qualifier Cristian Garin stuns Casper Ruud, Cameron Norrie and Alexander Zverev survive

Indian Wells, California: Qualifier Cristian Garin shocked third-seeded Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells on Sunday as Daniil Medvedev and Cameron Norrie survived scares. Garin’s attacking game paid off as he dispatched world number four Ruud in just under two hours. “The way I played today I’m so happy,” the 26-year-old Garin said. “I was aggressive the whole match.”

¡Bacán Garín!

Coming from the qualifying rounds, @Garin_Cris upsets Ruud 6-4 7-6 to storm into R4 in #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/7bPi6gMEAt

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 12, 2023

His 39 winners were too much for Ruud, a two-time Grand Slam finalist last year who had hoped a quick victory over Diego Schwartzman in his second-round opener would mark a turnaround in a season where he hadn’t advanced past the second round in three prior tournaments. Meanwhile, Medvedev, long frustrated by the slow hard courts in the California desert, managed to push his ATP winning streak to 16 matches with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory over 85th-ranked Ilya Ivashka. Medvedev, coming off three straight titles at Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, said the victory was a matter of “a few points,” but they went his way to keep him on track to improve on his previous best Indian Wells showing – the round of 16 in 2021. “(It’s) tough to make anything during the rallies, so just have to kind of see who puts more balls in court. If you lose a little momentum you lose a set,” said Medvedev, who was clearly frustrated at the end of the second set.

“And I’m gonna be as slow as the court is, so you can take 25 mins… oh no no but the court is slow so I go slow, I take my time” - Daniil Medvedev 💀 pic.twitter.com/ELo55WkrZW

— A✨ (@_fazahsn_) March 13, 2023

He grumbled to the referee that he would be “as slow as the court” in taking a bathroom break, but pulled himself together to take a 5-0 lead in the third, serving it out after Ivashka saved three match points to hold in the penultimate game. “I cannot say I played much better in the third, but (I) managed to be the one not missing after 25 shots,” said Medvedev, who next faces former world number two Alexander Zverev.

Alexander Zverev: “I lost 7-6 in the 3rd the last 2 years in a row. I lost a lot of tight 3 setters here (Indian Wells). I just wanted to get out here & get this win. He was playing better than me starting from set 2 & also set 3 I thought he was out playing me a lot of the time” pic.twitter.com/5XMUfm7V92

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 12, 2023

Zverev, coming back after torn ankle ligaments ended his 2022 campaign at the French Open , said much the same after a 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 victory over Finland’s’ Emil Ruusuvuori. “To be honest I think he played much better than me throughout the match,” Zverev said. “It’s just the way it is sometimes, one or two points can decide a match.”

Full grind and delicate touch 💯@cam_norrie with all the answers...#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/jd5F88nmqj

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 12, 2023

Tenth-seeded Norrie, who reached the final in Buenos Aires and lifted the trophy in Rio de Janeiro last month, was down a set and 4-1 to Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel before rallying for a 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-2 victory. Another Chilean qualifier joined Garin in the fourth round as Alejandro Tabilo triumphed 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) over unseeded Jordan Thompson, who had upset second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round. Tabilo lined up a meeting with American Frances Tiafoe, who eased past Aussie Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-2. Sabalenka wins by walkover On the women’s side of the combined WTA and ATP Masters 1000 event, second-seeded Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus advanced by walkover when Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko withdrew from their scheduled match . Tsurenko has now lost by retirement or walkover in nine of her 18 tournaments dating back to Indian Wells last year.

69.2 - @JLPegula saved 69.2% (9/13) of break points faced against @nastiaapotapova over the three sets. No player in the WTA's top 10 has faced break point as many times as Pegula (141) in 2023, though, saving break point 61% of the time for the year. Battle.@WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/0OMG80ccUm

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 12, 2023

Third-seeded American Jessica Pegula again rallied from a set down, beating Anastasia Potapova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. “That was definitely a battle today,” said Pegula , who also rallied from a set down in her second-round win over Camila Giorgi. “She definitely came out hitting her shots and painting lines and going after it. “So I’m just glad I was able to work my way back into the match and ended up playing much better than how I started.” Sixth-seeded American Coco Gauff advanced with a brisk 6-4, 6-3 victory over Linda Noskova. But last year’s runner-up, Maria Sakkari, needed two and a half hours to seal a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Anhelina Kalinina – Sakkari’s second straight come-from-behind victory. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.