No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic dropped the hammer after losing the first set, rallying for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in his opening match of the BNP Paribas Open in second-round action on a windy Saturday at Indian Wells, Calif.
The Serbian, who has won five Indian Wells titles, had a rusty opening set in his first match since dropping the Australian Open final vs. Carlos Alcaraz on Feb. 1, with more unforced errors (14) than winners (12).
He bounced back, saving all three break points he faced in the second set and facing none in the third set, while Majchrzak had 29 errors to 12 winners over the final two sets.
“Five weeks with no official match, I knew that the first match in such a long time will be a little bit tricky, you know, challenging, obviously, with conditions that are quite challenging as well,” Djokovic said after winning. “But, you know, I managed to reset after I lost that first set right away in the second and really never looked back.”
Alcaraz also opened his Indian Wells run Saturday, taking care of Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in 67 minutes with a 6-2, 6-3 win. The top-seeded Spaniard saved the only break point he faced while converting three of the four on Dimitrov’s serve, finishing with six aces against two double faults.
A pair of seeded Russian competitors were not as lucky on Saturday, with 16th-seeded Karen Khachanov falling 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4 to 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca, and Canada’s Gabriel Diallo knocking off No. 17 seed Andrey Rublev 6-7 (4), 7-6 (1), 6-3.
Khachanov and Rublev each arrived late in Indian Wells after initially being stranded in Dubai due to the airspace being shut down in the aftermath of last week’s American missile strikes in Iran.
Fonseca saved a pair of match points in the second-set tiebreaker, rallying from a 6-4 hole before jumping ahead 4-1 in the final set.
“(Today was) a great match against a great player. I’m very happy with the way that I fought,” Fonseca said in his on-court interview. “I know how experienced he is and after a tough second set, I got an early break in the third. This victory means a lot.”
No. 20 seed Italian Luciano Darderi was upset 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 by Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata, and Argentina’s Sebastian Baez knocked off Czech No. 22 seed Jiri Lehecka in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
Taylor Fritz, the highest-seeded American at No. 7, outlasted Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley for a 6-3, 6-7 (8), 6-1 win in his opening match.
Eleventh-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev beat Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-2 after he was also stranded in Dubai and arrived late in California.
Three seeded competitors survived three-set thrillers, with No. 10 Alexander Bublik outlasting Czech lucky loser Vit Kopriva 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2; British 14th seed Jack Draper rallying for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut; and 19th-seeded Argentine Francisco Cerundolo holding off French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi for a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5) win.
No. 13 seed Caspar Ruud of Norway over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-1, 7-6 (4); No. 24 Valentin Vacherot of Monaco (7-5, 7-5 over Portugal’s Nuno Borges); and No. 26 Arthur Rinderknech of France (walkover vs. Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo) each advanced with minimal drama.
The unseeded American competitors were a mixed bag in competition Saturday. Alex Michelson knocked off 32nd-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6); and Aleksander Kovacevic disposed of No. 31 Corentin Moutet of France 6-1, 6-4.
Sebastian Korda took the first set against sixth-seeded Aussie Alex de Minaur before falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; and qualifier Mackenzie McDonald fell in straight sets to No. 27 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-2, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
