Monfils Masters Medvedev, Brooksby Sees Off Tsitsipas At Indian Wells; American Men On Tap Tues.

Daniil Medvedev’s first — and maybe only? — stint at No. 1 came to an end yesterday when he got upset by Gael Monfils in the third round at the Indian Wells Masters.

Medvedev, who has never done well in the California desert, couldn’t must his top game as the French soared to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 runaway win and his first over a No. 1 since 2009 Doha!

“I played great tennis,” Monfils said. “I knew I was in great shape and tough to beat. It’s always special to beat a World No. 1.

“I moved great,” he added. “I was striking the ball very good and I’m full of confidence, so I’ll try to keep the flow.”

Medvedev’s loss means Novak Djokovic will return to No. 1 next Monday, but it was his poor play that was at the forefront.

“I always say, when I play my best tennis, my good tennis, it’s really tough to beat me,” Medvedev said. “But that’s the toughest part of tennis, to reproduce it time after time. That’s where the ‘Big Three’ are just unreal because no matter which conditions, no matter which surface, they are always winning tournaments a lot of the time or winning some crazy matches. I’m going to need to try to do better.”

Monfils will now face the hot-handed teen Carlos Alcaraz who ripped Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-0.

In the evening, the tournament lost another top seed as an error-prone Stefanos Tsitsipas was stunned by Jenson Brooksby 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Tsitsipas played a flawless first set before Brooskby found the range and began to frustrate the Greek into errors and bad play. And Brooksby dominated at the end to collect his first career Top 10 win.

“I felt really good going into the match,” Brooksby said. “I was hitting well, I thought I prepared well. I just got a little tight, I think. A little bit in my own head. It’s only a percentage of the time. It’s the whole match.

“I mentally got myself to turn around. I breathed a little bit, I calmed down, and I said let’s switch things around.”

The 21-year-old Californian will now take on defending champion Cameron Norrie who ousted Nikolaz Basilashvili in a rematch of their fall final.

In between, Rafael Nadal rallied from a break down to defeat Dan Evans 7-5, 6-3. Nadal ups his mark in 2022 to 17-0 and earns his 400th career Masters match win.

“I need to keep improving, of course, but it has been a small improvement today. That’s important because the next round is going to be a very difficult one,” said Nadal.

Jannik Sinner and Reilly Opelka were also winners and Nick Kyrgios continued to impress hammering Top 10 Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4. Kyrgios hasn’t dropped a set or dropped serve in three matches.

Kyrgios will now face Sinner, Opelka gets Nadal.

Today, the third round finishes with five Americans headlining including John Isner against Diego Schwartzman, Taylor Fritz against Jaume Munar and Frances Tiafoe takes on Andrey Rublev.

TUESDAY INDIAN WELLS SCHEDULE
STADIUM 1 start 11:00 am
WTA – [26] S. Cirstea (ROU) vs [24] S. Halep (ROU)
WTA – [3] I. Swiatek (POL) vs [15] A. Kerber (GER)
ATP – [14] D. Schwartzman (ARG) vs [23] J. Isner (USA)

Not Before 6:00 PM
WTA – P. Badosa (ESP) or S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP) vs L. Fernandez (CAN) or S. Rogers (USA)
ATP – [7] A. Rublev vs [28] F. Tiafoe (USA)

STADIUM 2 start 11:00 am
ATP – [6] M. Berrettini (ITA) vs [30] L. Harris (RSA)
ATP – [Q] J. Munar (ESP) vs [20] T. Fritz (USA)
Not Before 3:00 PM
WTA – [6] M. Sakkari (GRE) vs [Q] D. Saville (AUS)
Not Before 6:00 pm
ATP – [31] A. Bublik (KAZ) vs [33] G. Dimitrov (BUL)
Not Before 8:00 PM
WTA – [21] V. Kudermetova vs [30] M. Vondrousova (CZE)

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