Pospisil Shocks Murray in 2nd Rd. at Indian Wells; Djokovic, Nadal, Federer Today
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Unseeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil, ranked outside the Top 100 after a down 2016, on Saturday night upset world No. 1 Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6(5) in the second round at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
ADHEREL
It was the second loss for Murray this year to a net-rushing opponent.
“I didn’t serve particularly well tonight, which didn’t help things. And then in the second set, he started to play more aggressively,” said Murray. “I was giving myself decent looks at passing shots. I missed a few tonight. He also came up with some really good reflex volleys on important moments and important points.”
Top 10 winners on the day were No. 3 Stan Wawrinka who beat Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-4; No. 8 Dominic Thiem who cruised past France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-4, and No. 10 Gael Monfils who overcame an early foot injury to defeat the Barbados’ Darian King 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.
“I think I had some ups and downs a little bit, but in general I was feeling good,” said Wawrinka. “It’s my first win since the Australian Open, so it’s been a long time and it was nice to feel good on the court again. For the first match, I think it was very good. I don’t always play my best tennis at Masters 1000s, but hopefully I can do some great results here.”
Also among the seeded winners were No. 11 David Goffin who outlasted Karen Khachanov in three, No. 13 Tomas Berdych, No. 16 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 20 John Isner, No. 21 Pablo Carreno, No. 22 Albert Ramos, No. 27 Pablo Cuevas, No. 28 Philipp Kohlschreiber, and No. 29 Mischa Zverev.
“It’s crazy to think I had to play pre-qualifying here two years ago,” said the elder Zverev, who will next face Thiem. “I’ve never had to win seven matches to just be in a qualifying tournament. I got here 10 days before the first qualifying match was played, but I really enjoyed my time here. I came with a buddy and we had a routine: come in the morning, play the match and then go to Five Guys and have some frozen yogurt across the street. We then had a hit in the evening and did that the whole week. I won it and qualified for the main draw, which was the first ATP main draw since my wrist surgery.”
On the upset tip Saturday were Italy’s Fabio Fognini outlasting No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4; Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka defeating No. 19 Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-3; and Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic edging No. 30 Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2).
Matches to look for on Sunday in Indian Wells are (4) Kei Nishikori vs. Daniel Evans, (5) Rafael Nadal vs. Guido Pella, (2) Novak Djokovic vs. Kyle Edmund, (9) Roger Federer vs. Stephane Robert, (6) Marin Cilic vs. (WC) Taylor Fritz, (31) Juan Martin del Potro vs. countryman Federico Delbonis, and (23) Sam Querrey vs. Donald Young.
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