Unseeded Australian Jordan Thompson on Friday grabbed one of the biggest wins of his career, ousting third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, while Taiwanese qualifier Wu Tung-lin was defeated.
“It’s unreal at a Masters 1000 ... to have a win like that is incredible,” said Thompson, who won 7-6 (7/0), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5) to reach the third round.
The world No. 87’s only prior victory over a top-10 player was in 2017 against Andy Murray at Queen’s Club.
Photo: Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY
Thompson said that he felt a little lucky when a stinging forehand from Tsitsipas on match point was ruled a hair wide.
“I’m thankful that last ball was out — I thought it was in,” Thompson told fans on court.
While Tsitsipas led the third-set tiebreaker 2-1 and 4-3, Thompson’s coolness under pressure paid off as Tsitsipas belted a forehand into the net to give the Australian a match point before succumbing with the near miss.
Photo: AP
Thompson next faces Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo, who hung on to beat American Maxime Cressy 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (15/13).
For Tsitsipas it was another setback in the wake of his sparkling run to the Australian Open final in January.
He departed Melbourne energized despite falling to Novak Djokovic in the title match, but shortly thereafter sustained a shoulder injury.
Photo: AP
Playing his first tournament since a second-round exit in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Tsitsipas earlier this week said that his shoulder was still troubling him and he did not have high hopes of a third Masters 1000 crown.
Wu was beaten by a man in form.
Former champion Cameron Norrie, third-seeded Casper Ruud and 12th-seeded Alexander Zverev all eased into the third round with straight-sets victories.
Norrie’s 6-2, 6-4 victory over Wu marked a continuation of the form that saw him reach finals last month in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the first and beating him in the second.
For Ruud, a 6-2, 6-3 victory over former top-10 Argentine Diego Schwartzman was a confidence-boosting win in a season in which he had so far failed to advance past the second round in three tour-level tournaments he had played.
Germany’s Zverev, attempting to rebuild his career after surgery for ankle ligament damage sustained at the French Open last year, breezed past Argentina’s Pedro Cachin 6-3, 6-1.
Fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev continued his red-hot form with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over American Brandon Nakashima.
In the women’s singles, Aryna Sabalenka moved smoothly into the third round with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Evginiya Rodina, who was playing her eighth match since a return to competition at last year’s US Open after three years away from the game.
“Happy to win this match in two sets without struggling too much,” said Sabalenka, who has never made it past the round of 16 in the Californian desert.
Sabalenka next faces Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, who beat 29th-seeded Croatian Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
In other women’s matches, last year’s runner-up Maria Sakkari salvaged Greek pride with a battling 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over American Shelby Rogers.
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