Ajla Tomljanovic has claimed her first top 10 scalp of the season, defeating No. 5 seed Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.
It’s a fourth career win over a top 10 opponent for the 28 year old Aussie, who has enjoyed a strong second half of the season, which saw her reach her maiden major quarterfinal at Wimbledon and rise back inside the worlds top 50.
Her record against top 10 opponents in 2021 prior to her today’s triumph was 0-6.
Tomljanovic returned to the vourt later in the day in doubles action, but went down with Shelby Rogers 3-6, 3-6 to Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko.
Fellow Aussie Astra Sharma unfortunately bowed out of the tournament in the second round, having to retire with injury, leading 20th seed Daria Kasatkina 4-3 in the opening set.
22 year old Alexei Popyrin fought hard but went down to No. 8 seed Hubert Hurkacz 1-6, 5-7 in a relatively tight battle.
The Aussie faced 14 break points, and saved 10 of them, but was only able to win 56% of first set points in the defeat.
On the men’s side, No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev put in a strong display to claim a 6-4, 6-2 win over American Mackenzie McDonald, advancing to the third round.
“I’m actually really pleased, because usually I haven’t played well in Indian Wells and I haven’t been playing that well in practices before,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview.
"Really happy with my performance. That’s the most important, no matter how I played before the tournament.”
Fellow Russian and No. 4 seed Andrey Rublev also reached the third round, defeated Spaniard Carlos Taberner 6-3, 6-4.
Top 10 seeds Casper Ruud and Denis Shapovalov both claimed wins to join them in the third round.
In a battle of the American’s, Frances Tiafoe took down 32nd seed Sebastian Korda 6-0, 6-4 in a comprehensive showing.
And in one of the matches of the day, 18th seed Dan Evans came from a set down to defeat Kei Nishikori 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
On the women’s side, No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova defeated Polish qualifier Magdalena Frech 7-5, 6-2, booking her place in the third round.
No. 16 seed Bianca Andreescu continued her title defence with a narrow 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 win over American Alison Riske.
In one of the upsets of the day, No. 6 seed Maria Sakkari went down to Viktorija Golubic 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Top 10 seeds Angelique Kerber and Barbora Krejcikova were on the winners list, advancing through to the third round.
Listen to The First Serve with Brett Phillips each Monday at 8pm AEST on 1116AM SEN Melbourne, 1629AM SEN SA / 1170am Sydney or listen live and catch up on the SEN App.
Do solar panels work in winter? Solar energy output in Australia throughout winter is surprisingly high in some cities. You can learn more about better solar energy at B Solar. Talk with a B.Solar Advisor. Search for B Solar or visit b.solar to learn more.
Comments