The 2017 March Masters did not go as Dominic Thiem had hoped, as the Austrian lost in the quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open and then fell in his opener at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The World No. 6 got off to a good start to the March Masters swing in 2018, defeating #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in a back-and-forth battle 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday afternoon at Indian Wells to move into the third round. Thiem has advanced to at least the quarter-finals at four of his five tour-level tournaments this season, with his only earlier loss coming in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open (l. to Sandgren). The Austrian 24-year-old now has an ATP...
Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez took just 68 minutes to reach the second round at the BNP Paribas Open, dispatching two players inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings, Juan Martin del Potro and Grigor Dimitrov, 6-4, 6-2 on Friday. The Spaniards, who had won just two of their six matches heading into the event in 2018, dropped only two points behind their first serves against the singles stars in the first set (18/20), and saved all five break points they faced to advance to the next round. The 2016 Roland Garros champions, searching for back-to-back wins at an event for the first time this season, await the winner between sixth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau and Ryan Harrison/Max Mirnyi. Watch...
Gael Monfils began his 10th appearance at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on a positive note, defeating Australia’s Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-3 on Friday. The 31-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals in 2016 (l. to Raonic), broke Ebden on four occasions, and came back from 0-2 down in the second set, to secure the 71-minute win. The Frenchman improves his 2018 win/loss record to 12-5, highlighted by his seventh title on tour in the first week of the season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha (d. Rublev). Monfils isn't accustomed to playing first-round matches in Indian Wells – the Frenchman has had a first-round bye his past five appearances in the desert (2017, 2016, 2014, 2010, 2009). But...
Seven months ago, Denis Shapovalov made his name known worldwide at the Coupe Rogers, the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal, where he stunned Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal en route to becoming the youngest Masters 1000 semi-finalist. The #NextGenATP Canadian was back at it again on Thursday at another Masters 1000 tournament, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The 18-year-old left-hander secured his eighth win of the season, beating Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round in California. Catch up on Thursday's action by reading our #ATPMasters1000 Live Blog: It's Shapovalov's first Masters 1000 victory outside of his home country of Canada, and he was on against the 2017 VTB...
In an all-American meeting of #NextGenATP stars, Taylor Fritz saved one match point before overcoming his great friend Reilly Opelka 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 to reach the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Thursday. Fritz took two hours and 19 minutes to dispatch Opelka, who was best man at his wedding two years ago, withstanding 19 aces to advance. "Obviously it is always uncomfortable playing someone you are such good friends with... We both do know each other's tricks and tendencies so that comes into play," admitted Fritz. The 20-year-old recovered from match point down at 5/6 in the second-set tie-break, as Opelka fired wide on his forehand, to reach the Round of 64 for the...
