Swiatek, Alcaraz, Fritz, Murray advance at BNP Paribas Open Aussie Thompson takes down Tsitsipas at BNP Paribas Open Andy Murray pulls out another 3-set victory at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, California. Ranked No. 1 Iga Sviatek beat Claire Liu in 65 minutes to win her first match at the BNP Paribas Open.

Swiatek, the reigning champion who took first place in the rankings almost a year ago, won with a score of 6:0, 6:1. In the first set, she lost only seven points.

“Tactically and in terms of tennis, everything was on top,” she said. “I’ve had so many matches in the last couple of weeks that I know what to do.”

The men’s runner-up Carlos Alcaraz defeated qualified Thanasi Kokkinakis 6–3, 6–3. Alcaraz reached the desert semi-finals last year and could return to the top spot for the first time since January if he wins the title.

Taylor Fritz, the reigning men’s champion, edged out former NCAA singles champion Ben Shelton 4–6, 6–4, 6–3.

Shelton’s biggest pitch reached 147 mph.

“I expected him to throw bombs by playing well,” Fritz said. “I was ready for it, I just had to regroup, just find a way and solve the problem. He’s an incredible player and it was an extremely tough first match to come out and play so I’m happy to get through him.”

Andy Murray beat Radu Albot 6-4, 6-3 in his first straight win of the year to set up a third round matchup with Jack Draper. Murray had just 18 unforced errors to Albot’s 35, and never hit a break point on his serve, throwing six aces.

“Hopefully I can keep moving up the rankings, keep building that confidence and maybe get a few more straight draws,” Murray said.

Yannick Sinner defeated Richard Gasquet, 6-3, 7-6 (2). The 21-year-old Sinner scored 20 forehands against the 36-year-old veteran.

“Obviously today was a tough match, especially in the beginning, I was a bit tight,” Sinner said on the court.

Another 21-year-old Draper beat 24th Dan Evans 6-4, 6-2. Draper lost just eight games in the first two games of his Indian Wells debut.

No. 10 Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the third round by defeating Pedro Martinez 7-6(5), 6-4.

Emma Raducanou, 2021 US Open champion, beat No. 20 Magda Lynette 7-6 (3), 6-2. Lynette, an Australian Open semi-finalist, was given an early service break, but Radukanou latched onto her serve and equalized at 5 before forcing a tie-break.

“I was so happy with the way I fought. Because Magda played at a very high level,” Radukanu said. “It’s like some things that worked in the past didn’t work today and I’ve adapted.”

No. 5 Carolina Garcia outlasted Dalma Galfi, 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-4. The eighth seed Daria Kasatkina beat Tatyana Maria with a score of 6:2, 6:1.

Karolina Muchova beat two-time Indian Wells champion Victoria Azarenka 7:6 (1), 6:3, attacking the net in strong wind conditions. Mukhova returned from last year’s injuries.

The other seeded players who joined Azarenka on the sidelines were No. 25 Petra Martic and No. 28 Mari Buzkova.

Indian Wells, California. Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to Australian Jordan Thompson 7-6 (0), 4-6, 7-6 (5) in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open tournament.

Second seed Tsitsipas had a bandaged shoulder and an injury appeared to have affected his backhand.

Jordan took advantage of this and attacked the Greek from the left, attacking with short balls, and earned his second career victory over a top 10 player.

He beat the Australian Open runner-up Tsitsipas in two hours and 37 minutes.

“I felt confident, even playing against the top 10 players, I felt comfortable in my own skin and in what I was doing, and just snatched the victory,” said Jordan. “It was a wonderful feeling. You could see it on my face at the end of the match. I was filled with joy.”

Rain delayed the game at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and several fans rushed into action to help dry the hard courts.

No. 3 seed Kasper Ruud edged out Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-3. Ruud took a 4-1 lead in the first set and won the only break point on his serve with a right hand that cut the line.

No. 10 seed Cameron Norrie advanced to the third round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over qualified Wu Tung-Ling of Taiwan.

A handful of sowing men fell. Jason Kubler left as No. 21 Grigor Dimitrov retired, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 3-0 behind. No. 22 Roberto Bautista Agut lost to Emil Ruusuvuori, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Ilya Ivashka advanced when 28th Botić Van de Zandschulp had to retire 7-5, 3-2 behind. 29th Yoshihito Nishioka lost to qualified Christian Garin 6–4, 6–0.

In the women’s game No. 2, Arina Sobolenko defeated Evgenia Rodina with a score of 6-2, 6-0.

No. 6 Coco Gauff crushed Christina Buksa, 6-2, 6-4.

No. 9 Belinda Bencic lost to Jill Teichmann 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. 29 Donna Vekic defeated Lesya Tsurenko 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

Fine. 11 Veronika Kudermetova defeated Anna Blinkova, 6-3, 6-4. Barbora Kreychikova with the sixteenth number beat Dayana Yastremska with a score of 6:1, 6:2. Fine. 24 Olena Ostapenko got Alexandra Sasnovich, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

Rebecca Peterson pulled out when No. 22 Zhang Shuai went 3-0 down in the first set.

INDIAN WELLS, California. Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has gone undefeated this season in matches that end in a decisive third or fifth set, coming back to defeat Thomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 for over three hours in first round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Murray, a 35-year-old with an artificial hip, faced a couple of break points while serving 15-40 and already trailing 4-3 in the final set. Implement any of these moments, and Etcheverry would have served to win.

But Murray, who was runner-up at Indian Wells in 2009, managed to hang on there by starting a three-game streak against Etcheverry, the 21-year-old Argentine who is 61st after reaching the tournament final in Santiago, Chile. last week.

So far in 2023, Murray is 5-0 in best-of-five matches that go three sets, and 2-0 in best-of-five matches that go five. He is 0-3 in competitions that end early.

Another three major title winner, Stan Wawrinka, made a successful return to the hard-surface tournament in the California desert after a four-year absence, defeating qualifier Alexander Vukic 6–4, 1–6, 6–1.

Wawrinka, a 37-year-old ranked 3rd and now 100th after a series of left foot and left knee surgeries, hit 10 aces and won 28 of 33 first innings. His previous match in Indian Wells was a third round loss to Swiss Davis Cup teammate Roger Federer in 2019.

Wawrinka will face No. 26 seed Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round of the first Masters 1000 event of the season.

Dominic Thiem, who won the 2019 Indian Wells title and the US Open a year later, was scheduled to play in the first round later on the second day.

Emma Radukanou, who won the 2021 US Open as a teenager, returned to the court on Thursday for the first time since January after suffering from tonsillitis and trailed 2-0 in every set during what became a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danka Kovinic.

Another 20-year-old, Ben Shelton, started off 2-0 against Fabio Fognini and then won 12 of the last 15 games 6-4, 6-1. Shelton, the 2022 NCAA singles champion from the University of Florida, who hasn’t won a match since reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, will play No. 4 seed and defending champion Taylor Fritz next.

Fognini was cautioned for loud obscenity and for taking too long to prepare for the return pitch; he also hit with a racket during a match, but the chair umpire did not cite him for it.

Thanasi Kokkinakis scored 32 of the 34 points he scored in a 6-4, 6-1 win over wild card Brandon Holt to earn Saturday against defending US Open champion and top seed Carlos Alcaraz.

Danielle Collins, runner-up at the 2022 Australian Open, lost her second match in a row to a non-top 50 opponent by knocking out 80th-seeded Dalma Galfi 6-4, 6-4. Halif lost in qualifying, but advanced to the main draw when someone withdrew. Collins posted only nine winners, committing 41 unforced errors.

Varvara Gracheva, who qualified at Indian Wells after reaching the final in Austin, Texas last week, defeated Ysaline Bonaventure 6-2, 6-2; Katerina Sinyakova beat Jules Niemeyer 7:5, 6:4; and Jill Teichmann beat Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-4.

In terms of other results, Jack Draper beat qualifier Leandro Riedi 6-1, 6-1 to set up an all-British match against No. 24 Dan Evans; Mackenzie McDonald defeated Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-0 and Marton Fuksovich beat JJ Wolf 1-6, 6-0, 6-3.