Indian Wells 2023: Jordan Thompson topples Stefanos Tsitsipas; easy wins for Sabalenka, Ruud, Krejcikova

Indian Wells, California: Unseeded Australian Jordan Thompson grabbed one of the biggest wins of his career on Friday, ousting third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7/0), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5) to reach the third round of the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters. “It’s unreal, at a Masters 1000 … to have a win like that is incredible,” said Thompson, the world number 87 whose only prior victory over a top-10 player came back in 2017 against Andy Murray at Queen’s Club.

Hear from 🇦🇺 Jordan Thompson after his huge victory over 🇬🇷 Stefanos Tsitsipas (2) on Centre Court - Indian Wells chatting to @BrettAPhillips ⤵️#TheFirstServe pic.twitter.com/oCEpHhbp8z

— The First Serve (@TheFirstServeAU) March 11, 2023

He admitted he felt a little lucky when a stinging forehand from Tsitsipas on match point was ruled a hair wide. “I’m thankful that last ball was out — I thought it was in,” Thompson told fans on court. While Tsitsipas led the third-set tiebreaker 2-1 and 4-3, Thompson’s coolness under pressure paid off as Tsitsipas belted a forehand into the net to give the Aussie a match point before succumbing with the near miss. Thompson next faces Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo, who hung on to beat American Maxime Cressy 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (15/13). For Tsitsipas it was another setback in the wake of his sparkling run to the Australian Open final in January.

💥HUGE upset win by Aussie Jordan Thompson defeating world #3 Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 to reach Rd3 at the Indian Wells Masters 💯🇳🇿🎾💪 #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/IvM2VfIDXK

— John Casey 🎙️ (@JohnCasey2880) March 11, 2023

He departed Melbourne energised despite falling to Novak Djokovic in the title match, but shortly thereafter suffered a shoulder injury. Playing his first tournament since a second-round exit at Rotterdam, Tsitsipas admitted earlier this week that his shoulder was still troubling him and he didn’t have high hopes of a third Masters 1000 crown.

🤫

Sabalenka soars into the third round dominating Rodina 6-2, 6-0.#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/VVwumlHtIz

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 10, 2023

Tsitsipas and women’s second seed Aryna Sabalenka — playing just her second tournament since winning the Australian Open — headlined Friday’s second-round action as seeded players took the court after enjoying first-round byes. Sabalenka moved smoothly into the third round with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Evginiya Rodina, who was playing her eighth match since a return to competition at last year’s US Open after three years away from the game.

17 - Coming into Indian Wells, @SabalenkaA had a winner-unforced error differential per match of +3 on the WTA Tour in 2023. Today in her opening match at the @BNPPARIBASOPEN, Sabalenka hit 33 winners and 16 unforced errors for a differential of +17. Dominant.@WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/GzY98TAYdQ

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 10, 2023

“Happy to win this match in two sets without struggling too much,” said Sabalenka, who has never made it past the round of 16 in the California desert. Sabalenka, still barred from playing under her native flag of Belarus because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, next faces Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, who beat 29th-seeded Croatian Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-2. 6-2. In other women’s matches, last year’s runner-up Maria Sakkari salvaged Greek pride with a battling 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over American Shelby Rogers. Sakkari, trailing 1-4 when rain halted play for about 90 minutes, managed to turn it around in the second set. She fended off five break points – despite three double faults – to hold serve in the fifth game and broke Rogers to pocket the set. The American, who had won all three of their prior encounters, was down 3-0 in the third when she received treatment on her right calf and Sakkari remorselessly powered to the win. Medvedev rolls on

15th win in a row ✔️
1st player to win 20 matches this year ✔️

It was a double milestone kinda night for @DaniilMedwed tonight, as he recorded a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Brandon Nakashima in his opening match at Indian Wells. 👏

Medvedev has won his last 3 tournaments in a row. 🔥

— TENNIS (@Tennis) March 11, 2023

Fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, fresh off three straight ATP victories Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, continued his red-hot form with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over American Brandon Nakashima. Medvedev didn’t face a break point in the first set, but had to fight off half a dozen in an entertaining second set before closing it out with his third break of Nakashima’s serve. “There were some tough moments in the match, tough break point saves I’m happy that I managed to make it through,” Medvedev said. “Second set I could have done better on return a few times to maybe make my life easier, but he also played some great points.” Ruud, Norrie ease through

That's a sweet passing shot, @CasperRuud98 🤩@BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/wFVDebAVuX

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 10, 2023

Third-seeded Casper Ruud, former champion Cameron Norrie and 12th-seeded Alexander Zverev all eased into the third round with straight-sets victories. For Ruud, a 6-2, 6-3 victory over former top-10 Argentinian Diego Schwartzman was a confidence-boosting win in a season in which he had so far failed to advance past the second round in three tour-level tournaments he had played.

From: @cam_norrie 🤳
To: You! 🫵

The 2021 champion is delighted to be through to the third round 🙌@BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/Bv7UErDrag

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 10, 2023

For Norrie, however, a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Taiwanese qualifier Wu Tung-lin marked a continuation of the form that saw him reach finals last month in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro where he fell to Carlos Alcaraz in the first and beat Alcaraz in the second. Schwartzman had won five of his eight prior meetings with Ruud, but the Norwegian, currently ranked fourth in the world, had little trouble against him on Friday, breaking him twice in the first set and once in the second to polish off the victory in an hour and 28 minutes. “I lost to Diego here a couple of years ago so it was  nice to get revenge,” said Ruud, a finalist at the French Open and US Open last year who was bundled out of the Australian Open in the second round in January. “The goal was to try to play heavy and sometimes kind of mix up a little bit, come to the net and luckily today somehow that went well for me.” Germany’s Zverev, attempting to rebuild his career after surgery for ankle ligament damage suffered at the French Open last year, breezed past Argentina’s Pedro Cachin 6-3, 6-1.

Barbora Krejcikova after beating Dayana Yastremska at Indian Wells: “I’m really happy I’m here. I wasn’t here last year. It was really unfortunate & I was out for a long time. I’m really happy I can be here right now & that I can play here.” pic.twitter.com/sJk6ZSsEf9

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 10, 2023

In other early women’s action, Czech Barbora Krejcikova blew past Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 6-2 in just 69 minutes, avenging a defeat in Doha last year. Former French Open champion Krejcikova is coming off an upset of top-ranked Iga Swiatek last month in the final at Dubai, where Krejcikova beat the top three players in the world. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.