Indian Wells: Murray schools Alcaraz; Tsitsipas shines under lights
Oct 11, 2021
California [USA], October 11 : Former world number 1 Andy Murray moved into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open after defeating Carlos Alcaraz at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Sunday.
Battling it out at Stadium 2, 2009 runner-up moved into the next round with a three-hour 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 win over 18-year-old Spaniard Alcaraz. In his 13th Indian Wells appearance, the Scot advanced to the third round of an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time since he won the Paris Rolex Masters in 2016. Murray finished with 18 winners to his opponent's 36, but his 29 unforced errors were 13 fewer.
Elsewhere, a night in the desert was just to Stefanos Tsitsipas' liking with the second seed shining under the lights to win his opening match against Pedro Martinez.
In his third appearance, the Greek moved into the third round at Indian Wells for the first time following a 6-2, 6-4 victory over the World No. 61. Tsitsipas needed 93 minutes to prevail as he claimed 63 per cent of first-serve points and 80 per cent on second serves.
Italy was in the spotlight on Sunday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden: 5th seed Matteo Berrettini bested Chile's Alejandro Tabilo, 6-4, 7-5; 10th seed Jannik Sinner defeated Australia's John Millman, 6-2, 6-2; and 25th seed Fabio Fognini outlasted Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Italians Lorenzo Sonego and Gianluca Mager weren't as fortunate. Sonego fell to South African Kevin Anderson in a pair of tiebreaks, 7-6(7), 7-6(3), Mager to Frenchman Gael Monfils, 6-4, 6-2.
Californian Jenson Brooksby put up a fight against No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, but ultimately came up short, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Also posting wins were: 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain (def. Emilio Gomez, 6-1, 6-4), 13th seed Cristian Garin of Chile (def. Ernesto Escobedo, 7-5, 6-2), and 22nd seed Alex De Minaur of Australia (def. Aleksandar Vukic, 6-4, 7-5).
