Indian Wells, California. Qualifier Christian Garin of Chile shocked third place Kasper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 7-6 (2) at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday with his first win over the top five in almost two matches. years.
Garin, who placed 97th, had 39 winners, while Ruud, who placed 4th, had only 15 winners with 29 unforced errors in a match that lasted 1 hour and 59 minutes.
“Kasper is one of the players that I really admire,” said Garin. “I am so happy to play like this, to be aggressive, to go to the net. This is how I like to play and this is the only way to beat these players.”
Garin, 26, has improved to a lifetime 3-1 against Ruud, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, since they first met on tour in 2019 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Garin advances to the 1/8 finals to face 23rd seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokin, who beat 13th seed Karen Khachanov 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
Cameron Norrie, 2021 Indian Wells champion, rose from a set and lost 3-0 to defeat world No. 103 Taro Daniel 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2. Norrie with 10 No. 2 improved to a lifetime 11-3 in Indian Wells and will face No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev who beat Hugo Humbert 7-5, 6-3. Qualified Daniel was aiming for another instructive victory after a stunning second round victory over Matteo Berrettini.
Alexander Zverev of Germany, who missed the second half of the 2022 season with three torn ligaments in his right ankle at the French Open, beat Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland 7-5, 1-6, 7-5. It passes to Daniil Medvedev, who finished fifth, who defeated Ilya Ivashka 6:2, 3:6, 6:1.
Top American Jessica Pegula, seeded No. 3, rose from a set in her second match in a row to beat No. 26 Anastasia Potapova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Pegula came close to losing to the 21-year-old upstart. She faced a break point on a 4-4 serve in the second set, but came out of the rut to win the set. Pegula had to rally again in the third set, losing 2-0 and 3-1, but with a break in the sixth set, he equalized. She broke Potapova to close the match.
“I think I played a little smarter, got a little deeper in my shots,” Pegula said. “Things got a little better, but she started to play very well. I was very upset, but she is a great player.”
Pegula, who beat Camila Giorgi in her first match, takes the lead to face Petra Kvitova, who beat Elena Ostapenko 0-6, 6-0, 6-4.
No. 6 seed Koko Gauff, who played on the eve of her 19th birthday, edged out Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3 in a juvenile showdown to face Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson, who beat Switzerland’s Jill Teichmann 3. -6, 6-3, 6-1.
“Honestly, I felt a little pressure in today’s match because of age, which I never thought about in the past,” said Gauff, who reached the round of 16 in the Southern Hemisphere. California desert for the first time.
The seventh seeded Maria Sakkari beat the 27th seeded Angelina Kalinina with a score of 3:6, 6:2, 6:4. Sakkari, who reached the final last year, advanced to the round of 16 for the third time in five career BNP Paribas Open appearances. The Greek player will face No. 17 seed Karolina Pliskova, who beat No. 11 seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 7-5.
Source: www.espn.com
