Sabalenka saved four match points to lead the day in Indian Wells

Spanish tennis will have only one representative in the third round of Indian Wells: Carlos Alcarazwho were left without countrymen in the California desert after the eliminations this Saturday by Alejandro Davidovich and Roberto Carballés.

Davidovich He fell this Saturday in the second round against Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-3 and 6-4 in one hour and 18 minutes.

Number 23 in the world and without playing the first round, the native of Malaga lost to a Fils who was in position 43 in the ATP.

Davidovich was unable to repeat his good performance from last year in Indian Wells, where he reached the quarterfinals.

His executioner in 2023 is the Russian Daniel Medvedevwho this time also cut short the aspirations of another Spaniard like Carballés.

The Canarian had to play his first round match on Friday and, just 24 hours later, he faced a very demanding face-to-face with the world number 4 and last year’s finalist in this tournament.

Medvedev, in the last match this Saturday in Indian Wells, defeated Carballés (number 64) 6-2 and 6-3 in one hour and 28 minutes.

The match between Medvedev and Carballés left an anecdote in the middle of the second set when the Russian complained about a flashing light at the top of the stadium. The game was stopped for more than 10 minutes while technicians tried to fix that problem with the lights.

Alcarazworld number 2 and current Indian Wells champion, will face Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (no. 31) this Sunday in the third round.

For the Latin representatives, the Argentine Sebastián Báez qualified for the third round, where he will face the American Taylor Fritz, who defeated the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.

Baz (n. 19), who did not have to play in the first round, defeated the Italian Fabio Fognini (n. 108 and received a wild card from the organization) this Saturday 7-5 and 6-3 in an hour and 39 minutes.

The Argentine started 2024 with great energy since he was proclaimed champion in Rio de Janeiro and Santiago, Chile.

Now an important challenge awaits him against the American Taylor Fritz (n.12), who conquered Indian Wells in 2022, defeated Spaniard Rafa Nadal in the final.

Fritz defeated Tabilo (no. 39) on Saturday, who played his first round on Friday against Russian Pavel Kotov (no. 67).

The American defeated the Chilean 7-6(2) and 6-2 in one hour and 14 minutes.

Djokovic reached 400 wins and Sabalenka survived a match

Novak Djokovic This Saturday he returned to compete in Indian Wells after five years, beating Australian Aleksandar Vukic with some difficulty in the second round and adding his 400th victory in Masters 1,000 matches.

The Serbian is six wins away from the record held by Spaniard Rafa Nadal with 406. However, Djokovic has the best winning percentage in 1,000 Masters (82.3%) and the record for total titles ( 40).

Balkan (world number one) defeated Vukic (no. 69) 6-2, 5-7 and 6-3 in two hours and ten minutes. This is his first match since losing in the semifinals of the Australian Open against Italian Jannik Sinner (no. 3).

In the third round, Djokovic will face Italian Luca Nardi (no. 123), who entered the main draw as a “lucky loser” due to the resignation of Argentine Tomás Etcheverry (no. 30).

Five-time champion in the California desert, Djokovic did not compete in the first Masters 1,000 of the year since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic and failure to comply with vaccination requirements.

For its part, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (n. 2) was necessary save four balls against against American Peyton Stearns (n. 64), whom he defeated 6-7(2), 6-2 and 7-6(6) in a grueling match of two hours and 54 minutes.

Well-known Indian Wells candidates such as the American Coco Gauff (no. 3), the Danish Holger Rune (no. 7), the Greek Maria Sakkari (no. 9) or the Norwegian Casper Ruud (no. 9) are next which is round.

But this Saturday also left surprises such as the early elimination of the American Jessica Pegula (no. 5), the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (no. 8) or the Chinese Qinwen Zheng (no. 8).