(Indian Wells) Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her teammate, Brazil’s Luisa Stefani easily beat Asia Muhammad and Anna Danilina 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday in the first round of women’s doubles in Indian Wells.
Dabrowski and Stefani were particularly effective in the 61-minute clash, completing five of their seven break chances.
They also won 74.2% of their first serve points.
Meanwhile, Muhammad and Danilina double faulted four times and won just 58.1% of their first-ball runs. The two players converted only one opportunity to break.
Later Sunday, Canadians Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov will face Cameron Norrie and Lucas Miedler in the second round of men’s doubles.
Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin caused a big upset in the men’s draw, knocking out third-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(2), in the third round.
Garin, 97e in the world, had 39 game winners while Ruud had just 15 in addition to committing 29 unforced errors in the almost two-hour clash.
The 26-year-old Garin improved his career record to 3-1 against Ruud, a two-time Grand Slam finalist. The Chilean will now cross swords with the winner of the duel between Karen Khachanov (no 13) and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (no 23).
Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who missed the second half of the 2022 season after tearing three ligaments in his right ankle at Roland Garros, beat Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 1-6, 7-5. He will face Daniil Medvedev (no 5).
On the women’s side, American Jessica Pegula (no. 3) came from behind for the second straight match, winning 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 over Anastasia Potapova (no. 26).
Pegula, the highest ranked American in the tournament, now awaits the winner of the match between Petra Kvitova and Jelena Ostapenko.
Greece’s Maria Sakkari (no 7) defeated Anhelina Kalinina (no 27) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Sakkari, who reached the final last year, advanced to the fourth round for the third time in five career appearances at this tournament. She will do battle with Karolina Pliskova or Veronika Kudermetova.
Eventually, Switzerland’s Jil Teichman advanced to the next round with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson. She advanced to the fourth round of the tournament for the first time in her career.
Cameron Norrie gets scared but advances in 8e
PHOTO BRUNA PRADO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Briton Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie, 12e world and winner of the event in 2021, advanced in 8e final, after beating 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-2 the Japanese Taro Daniel (103e).
The 27-year-old British left-hander has come a long way, as he trailed one set to nil and 4-1 in the second set, before making his big comeback. Until then, Daniel had been the most consistent, conceding fewer unforced errors than his opponent and thought he would pull off the same shot as in 2018, when he won their first confrontation, right here in the Californian desert, at 1er round.
But Norrie is another player now and animated by a great confidence inherited from his recent results, convincing, since he remains on a title won at the end of February in Rio De Janeiro, taking his revenge on Carlos Alcaraz who had beaten him a week earlier in the final in Buenos Aires.
Persisting to push forward, he finally adjusted his game at the best time to catch up, winning the run on 15 of his 21 volleys in the second set.
And in the third heat, he went it alone to finish in 3:41.
Norrie will face Russian Andrey Rublev (7e) or the Frenchman Ugo Humbert (77e) in the next turn.
Medvedev follows Norrie
Daniil Medvedev (6e world) also qualified for the 8e final of the Indian Wells Masters 1000, dismissing 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka (85e), Sunday in California.
The 27-year-old Russian will face the German Alexander Zverev (14e) upset winner 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 of Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori (59e).
This victory is the 16e in a row for Medvedev, a man in the form of the moment, who remains on three titles won in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai.
Favorite of the tournament, with the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (2e), he started strong and finished with a bang, not without having suffered a bad patch in the second set, when Ivashka raised his level of play, at the same time as the wind rose and the temperature fell.
But the illusion did not last long. Medvedev, who blew his nose several times on his chair between games, was much more aggressive in the third set and intractable in the end, winning after 1:45.
The winner of the 2021 U.S. Open has been showing renewed form and confidence for the past few weeks, after a start to the year marked by an early elimination at 3e round of the Australian Open.
Nevertheless, in Indian Wells, he still has to prove himself, since he has never managed to exceed 8e of final. Faced with Zverev, he will have the opportunity.
France Media Agency