Stefanos Tsitsipas is shown the door, Daniil Medvedev continues on his way

(Indian Wells) First surprise in Indian Wells: Stefanos Tsitsipas, reduced by a painful shoulder, took the door as soon as he entered the running on Friday, while Daniil Medvedev, with his 15^e straight win, Casper Ruud and Aryna Sabalenka calmly advanced to 3^e round.

The Greek, 3^e world, fought back, but was defeated 7-6 (7/0), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5) by Jordan Thompson (87^e), after 2 h 36 min of a very tight match, without managing to raise his level in the key moments.

Except during the second set, where Tsitsipas deceived, it was the Australian who made the difference each time in the decisive games. Very easily in the first, offered on a set by his opponent, author of numerous unforced errors. More hooked in the third, during which the native of Sydney was still the most solid, while taking advantage of a final mistake by the opponent to conclude on his first opportunity.

“I’m relieved the last bullet came out, I thought it was in. It’s quite unreal to win such a match in one of my favorite tournaments, “reacted Thompson, very happy with his second victory against a player from the top 10. The first, against Andy Murray at Queen’s, dates back to 2017.

Medvedev “happy”

Tsitsipas’ poor performance can be explained by this painful right shoulder which forced him to forfeit last week in Acapulco. He did not show the tone or the fluidity that usually characterize his game. The Greek now has two weeks to fully recover, in view of the Masters 1000 in Miami.

Daniil Medvedev (6^e), he has shown regained form and confidence in recent weeks, and it is not the American Brandon Nakashima (48^e) which was going to thwart his debut in Indian Wells, where the Russian is struggling to shine since he has never yet passed the round of 16.

The Russian, who remains on three titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, held his rank as the favorite of the tournament by being serious, aggressive in the exchanges and realistic in the key moments, to win 6-4, 6- 3 in 1 hr 26 mins

The winner of the 2021 United States Open only needed a break point to break away in the first set and win it without ever being worried about his commitments. Nakashima put up more resistance in the second set, forcing Medvedev to save four break points at 3-1, then two more at 5-3, each time raising his level of play.

“There were difficult moments in the match, break points difficult to save, I am happy to have managed to get out of it”, reacted soberly the one who will then be opposed to Belarusian Ilya Ivashka (85^e).

Berrettini out

Casper Ruud (4^e), in search of confidence after a disappointing start to the year, also had no trouble reaching the third round, dismissing Argentine Diego Schwartzman (38^e). He will face the Chilean Cristian Garin (97^e).

Other easily qualified: Andrey Rublev (7^e) and Cameron Norrie (12^e).

The Russian, quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, disposed of the Czech Jiri Lehecka (47^e) 6-4, 6-2 and will be opposed in the next round to Frenchman Ugo Humbert (77^e), which released Canadian Denis Shapovalov (30^e) 7-5, 6-4.

The Briton, winner in 2021, dominated 6-2, 6-4 the modest Taiwanese Tung-Lin Wu (175^e) and will face the Japanese Tato Daniel (103^e) unexpected scorer 7-6 (7/5), 0-6, 6-3 from Italian Matteo Berrettini (23^e).

Among women, Aryna Sabalenka (2^e), winner of her first Major in January at the Australian Open, started her tournament in an expeditious fashion, crushing 6-2, 6-0 Evgeniya Rodina (427^e).

Aggressive, solid, confident, the Belarusian had no trouble discouraging, in just over an hour, the Russian, who was playing her eighth match since returning to competition at the US Open in 2022, after almost three years of absence.

“I’m happy to have won this match without too much difficulty,” said Sabalenka, who has never made it past the round of 16 in the Californian desert and will face Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko (95^e) to 3^e round.

Americans Jessica Pegula (3^e) and Coco Gauff (6^e), as well as the Greek Maria Sakkari (7^e), also passed the obstacle of the second round: Gauff without incident at the expense of the Spaniard Creistina Busca, Pegula and Sakkari with more difficulty, each giving up a set in the process.