Indian Wells Tennis 2022: Rafael Nadal Advances, Aryna Sabalenka Upset in 2nd Round | Bleacher Report
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AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Saturday marked the second round of action from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California.
There were already plenty of surprises in the first round. No. 7 Karolina Pliskova and No. 8 Garbine Muguruza lost on the women’s side.
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka was one of three top-10 seeds to join them in going home on Saturday. No. 9 Ons Jabeur and No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko also lost.
Today saw most of the top seeds on the men’s bracket get in on the action. Top seed Daniil Medvedev had no trouble in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Tomas Machac. No. 4 Rafael Nadal survived a third-set tiebreak to get past Sebastian Korda.
Here are the scores and notable moments from Saturday’s matches.
Women’s Singles
Jasmine Paolini def. No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka: 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 Anett Kontaveit def. Kristina Kucova: 6-4. 6-1
No. 5 Paula Badosa def. Tereza Martincova: 6-2, 7-6 (4)
No. 6 Maria Sakkari def. Katerina Siniakova: 6-3, 7-5
Daria Saville def. No. 9 Ons Jabeur: 7-5, 6-7 (0), 6-4
Shelby Rogers def. No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko: 7-5, 7-6 (6)
No. 13 Victoria Azarenka def. Astra Sharma: 6-3, 7-5
Marie Bouzkova def. No. 14 Jessica Pegula: 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
No. 17 Elena Rybakina def. Alison Van Uytvanck: 6-1, 7-5
No. 18 Leylah Fernandez def. Amanda Anisimova: 2-6, 7-6 (0), (Retired)
No. 20 Elise Mertens def. Marta Kostyuk: 6-2. 6-1
No. 27 Petra Kvitova def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich: 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4
No. 30 Marketa Vondrousova def. Magdalena Frech: 6-1, 6-3
No. 31 Viktorija Golubic def. Yulia Putintseva: 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
No. 32 Sara Sorribes Tormo def. Kaja Juvan: 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Men’s Singles
No. 1 Daniil Medvedev def. Tomas Machac: 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 Rafael Nadal def. Sebastian Korda: 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (3)
No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Jack Sock: 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (5)
No. 8 Casper Ruud def. Christopher Eubanks: 7-6 (5), 6-2
No. 10 Jannik Sinner def. Laslo Djere: 6-3, 6-3
No. 12 Cameron Norrie def. Pedro Martinez: 6-3, 6-3
No. 13 Denis Shapovalov def. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina: 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 15 Roberto Bautista Agut def. J.J. Wolf: 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5)
No. 17 Reilly Opelka def. Lorenzo Musetti: 6-1, 6-4
No. 18 Nikoloz Basilashvili def. Fabio Fognini: Walkover
No. 19 Carlos Alcaraz def. Mackenzie McDonald: 6-3, 6-3
Benjamin Bonzi def. No. 21 Lorenzo Sonego: 6-3, 6-4
Jenson Brooksby def. No. 25 Karen Khachanov: 6-0, 6-3
No. 26 Gael Monfils def. Filip Krajinovic: 6-3, 6-4
No. 27 Daniel Evans def. Federico Coria: 6-2, 6-0
Nick Kyrgios def. No. 32 Federico Delbonis: 6-2, 6-2
Scores via BNPParibasOpen.com.
Notable Highlights
The women’s bracket looks to be wide open at this point. Five of the top 10 seeds have already lost.
Jasmine Paolini now has the upper hand in head-to-head contests against Sabalenka, going 2-1 record against her. This was their first matchup since November 2020.
Sabalenka came out strong with a 6-2 win in the first set. Serving was a big problem for her throughout the match, though, with 10 double-faults. She did have an opening in the second set after crawling back to 4-3 after losing four of the first five games.
Paolini hit an ace to save a break point, and she would win the next two games to even the match at one set. Sabalenka’s backhand error while trailing 4-3 in the third set allowed Paolini to break and set her up for the win in the next game.
wta @WTA
Bringing the ??? ??? energy to the desert ?<br><br>Jasmine Paolini knocks out the No.2 seed Sabalenka in three sets and secures her first-ever Top 10 win!<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndianWells?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#IndianWells</a> <a href=”https://t.co/XpkJmkKgUV”>pic.twitter.com/XpkJmkKgUV</a>
Leylah Fernandez avoided a potential upset loss when Amanda Anisimova was forced to retire after the second set due to illness.
Anisimova won the first set and was up 5-4 with a 40-0 advantage in the second set, but Fernandez saved four match points to win the second set.
Nadal’s perfect start to the season continued with a win over Korda, though it wasn’t without drama. He got steamrolled in the second set, losing six of seven games, after a fairly comfortable 6-2 win in the opening set.
The third set started out much like the second, as Korda took a 5-2 advantage and was serving for the match. Nadal responded by winning four straight games to move into the driver seat.
Korda was able to settle down long enough to win the 12th game and tie the third set at six. Rafa got back on track in the tiebreak, winning seven of 10 points to get his 16th consecutive win to start the 2022 season.
“I feel very, very lucky today to be through,” Nadal told reporters after his victory. “Sebastian was playing some fantastic tennis. I didn’t play my best match without a doubt, [but] a lot of credit to him that he played so aggressive, and he put me in a lot of trouble.”
Nadal will be taking on Daniel Evans in the third round on Monday. Evans defeated Federico Coria 6-2, 6-0 in a match that took 68 minutes to complete.
Meanwhile, Medvedev has been playing fantastic tennis so far this season. The Russian star breezed past Tomas Machac in a straight-set victory in his first match since reaching No. 1 in the ATP world rankings.
MacHac did put up a brief fight in the first set when he had a chance to break Medvedev’s serve, but he was unable to finish it off.
The only two losses for Medvedev in tournaments this season have come against Nadal, including when he blew a two-set lead in the Australian Open final. The Spanish star also got the best of him in the semifinal of the Mexico Open last month.
A potential third showdown between Medvedev and Nadal at Indian Wells wouldn’t happen until the final if they advance that far.
Stefanos Tsitsipas staved off an early exit in a three-set thriller against Jack Sock that took nearly 2.5 hours to complete. He won the first and third sets in a tiebreak. Sock forced a third set with a 6-3 win in the second.
Tsitsipas is still looking for his breakthrough event for 2022. The Greek native has made it to one final in four ATP events, losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime at the AMRO World Tennis Tournament. He fell to Medvedev in the Australian Open semis.
The last time Tsitsipas won was at the Monte Carlo Masters last April. He will take on American Jenson Brooksby in the third round on Monday.
Sunday’s matches will feature Cori Gauff, Madison Keys, Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini.
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