World No. 3 Alexander Zverev on Sunday crashed out of the ATP Indian Wells Masters, stunned in his opening match 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2) by 39th-ranked American Tommy Paul.
After dropping a first set in which Paul mercilessly punished his second serve, Germany’s Zverev leveled the match with the only break of the second set in the 10th game.
After holding his serve to love three times and breaking Paul in the sixth game of the third Zverev appeared to be heading for victory, but the German immediately served four double faults to hand the break back, and Paul dominated the tiebreak with the same aggression he showed in the opening set.
Photo: AFP
“I played a really high-level today,” said Paul, who notched the biggest win of his career. “I knew how I wanted to play him, so I came out and executed it well.”
Zverev was playing his first tournament since he was disqualified from the Mexico Open in Acapulco after losing his temper and repeatedly smashing his racket into the umpire’s chair.
The 24-year-old Tokyo Olympic gold medalist was fined US$40,000 for verbal abuse and unsportsmanlike conduct. A further US$25,000 fine and an eight-week ban were suspended provided he does not incur a further code contravention for 12 months.
In other men’s second-round action, Alexander Bublik, the 31st seed, sent former world No. 1 Andy Murray packing with a 7-6 (11/9), 6-3 win over the three-time Grand Slam champion.
There was more disappointment for Murray’s British compatriot Emma Raducanu, who was beaten in the third round by Croatian Petra Martic 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 7-5.
The 19-year-old Briton, who stormed to an unlikely US Open title as a qualifier last year, served for the match at 5-4 in the third.
The 13th seed could not muster a match point and lost the next three games, a string of forehand errors spelling the end of her challenge in a final loss of serve.
It was the latest setback for Raducanu, who was ousted in the second round of the Australian Open in January and suffered a hip injury at Guadalajara last month.
Martic, ranked 79th in the world, notched her first win over a top-20 player in more than two years.
Third-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland, the highest-ranked player left in the women’s field, struggled early, but dominated late in a 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-1 victory over Denmark’s Clara Tauson.
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