Indian Wells: Zverev overcomes Murray; Tsitsipas, Monfils advance
Oct 13, 2021
California [USA], October 13 : The number three seed Alexander Zverev fought past a spirited effort from three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray in Stadium 1 on Tuesday afternoon, recovering from a break down in both sets to advance 6-4, 7-6(4) in the BNP Paribas Open.
With this win, Zverev has reached the fourth round in Indian Wells for the first time since 2016. The German will next play 14th seed, Gael Monfils.
Elsewhere, Stefanos Tsitsipas surged back from a set and a break down to hold off former World No. 9 Fabio Fognini in the third round.
The Greek was rattled early on against the 30th seed but worked his way back into the match for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in two hours and four minutes. It set a fourth-round meeting with 22nd seed Alex de Minaur after the Australian's 6-4, 6-2 win against 15th seed Cristian Garin.
Earlier in the day, California's very own Taylor Fritz caused one of the upsets of the men's singles tournament so far, kicking off play on Tuesday with a spectacular win over No. 5 seed Matteo Berrettini, 6-4, 6-3.
In the match under the lights, Gael Monfils cruised into the fourth round at the Californian desert for the fourth time in his storied career, defeating Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-2 to improve his record over the towering South African to six wins and just one loss.
Two days following his upset over No. 7 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, Albert Ramos-Vinolas backed up his form with another upset, this time No. 29 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili, recovering from a set down to advance 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 into the fourth round, his best result at a Masters 1000 event this year.
Karen Khachanov took the lead in his head-to-head against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, winning a rematch of their Olympic semi-final, also won by the Russian, who ended with silver at Tokyo 2020. The No. 24 seed, a quarter-finalist in the Palm Desert back in 2019, won 6-0, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.
