Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced.
“No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat.
“It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.”
Photo: AFP
Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims.
He stunned Alcaraz at the US Open last year before beating Rafael Nadal in Davis Cup in what proved the Spanish great’s last match.
“I think I kept my cool during the whole match,” Van de Zandschulp said. “I know if I go into the match and lose my cool, especially against the big players, it’s going to be a really tough day. That’s always one thing I’m trying to do well.”
After 14 unforced errors in the first set, Djokovic cleaned things up in the second, grabbing a quick break on the way to a 3-0 lead.
Djokovic pumped his fist after belting a forehand winner to the corner for his first break chance of the match and after consolidating the break nodded his head in satisfaction.
The rallies remained tense affairs and Djokovic’s frustration was clear at times, but after he was broken when serving for the set, he closed it out on his next service game.
It was only a brief respite. Van de Zandschulp kept the pressure on both from the baseline and at the net, and Djokovic’s errors began to pile up again.
Van de Zandschulp took control with a break for 3-1, reeling off the last five games as Djokovic was unable to stop the bleeding.
“The first three games, four games of the third set were quite close,” Djokovic, seeded sixth, said.
Italian Matteo Arnaldi sprung another upset, beating seventh seed Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-5. Djokovic and Rublev followed top seed Alexander Zverev and fourth seed Casper Ruud as second-round casualties.
With Zverev out and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, world No. 3 Alcaraz is the highest seed left in the men’s draw.
Alcaraz, trying to join Djokovic and Roger Federer as the only men to win three straight Indian Wells titles, eased into his defense with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over France’s Quentin Halys.
He admitted he was feeling some nerves to start the match, but said they evaporated amid a strong all-around performance.
One early break staked Alcaraz to the first set. He roared to a 4-0 lead in the second behind a formidable service display and wrapped up the win in 67 minutes.
“I was nervous at the beginning of the match,” he told a supportive crowd. “The first match is never easy, so I was trying to be focused on my game.”
“I just tried to be relaxed, as relaxed as I can. [I] can always be better, but I’m ready for the [next] round and excited,” he said.
Women’s world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka opened her campaign with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 victory over rising US talent McCartney Kessler.
Madison Keys, who denied Sabalenka a third straight Australian Open title as she claimed her long awaited first Grand Slam in Melbourne, subdued hard-hitting Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-0 in her first match since then.
The US’ Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff — seeded third in their respective draws, both advanced.
Fritz, the 2022 men’s champion, defeated Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante 7-5, 6-3.
Gauff survived 21 double faults to claw out a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Steve Smith yesterday announced his retirement from one-day international (ODI) cricket after captaining Australia to a semi-final exit at the ICC Champions Trophy, bringing down the curtain on a career in the format that included two ICC World Cup wins. The 35-year-old batsman, who was his team’s top scorer with 73 as Australia lost to India by four wickets in Dubai on Tuesday, said he would still be available for selection for T20 internationals and Test matches. “It has been a great ride and I have loved every minute of it,” Smith said in a Cricket Australia statement. “There have been so
RSS