Tsitsipas Crashes Out of Indian Wells in Second Round

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece plays a backhand in a three set loss to Jordan Thompson of Australia during the BNP Parisbas at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 10, 2023 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece plays a backhand in a three set loss to Jordan Thompson of Australia during the BNP Parisbas at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 10, 2023 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Tsitsipas Crashes Out of Indian Wells in Second Round

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece plays a backhand in a three set loss to Jordan Thompson of Australia during the BNP Parisbas at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 10, 2023 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece plays a backhand in a three set loss to Jordan Thompson of Australia during the BNP Parisbas at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 10, 2023 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

Stefanos Tsitsipas's hopes of taking over the world number one ranking with an Indian Wells title ended in a 7-6(0) 4-6 7-6(5) second-round loss to Australian Jordan Thompson on Friday.

Second seed Tsitsipas told reporters on Wednesday that he did not expect to make a deep run at the tournament due to his ailing shoulder and it was unclear how much he had left in the tank after he was blanked in the first set tie-breaker.

But the Greek battled back in the second and pumped up the crowd ahead of the third set tie-break.

But overly aggressive play in it, including a forehand on match point that missed the line by the slimmest of margins, was his undoing.

A beaming Thompson fired a ball high into the air in celebration after he notched his first win over Tsitsipas in three career meetings and second over a top 10 player.

"Tricky match point," Thompson told reporters.

"The ball was only just out and it was a relief that it was. It was a great feeling. You could see it on my face at the end of the match. I was overcome with joy."

Norrie advances

Earlier, Briton Cameron Norrie cruised past Taiwan's Tung-lin Wu 6-2 6-4.

Norrie, the 2021 champion, broke Wu four times en route to the win

"Lots of good memories at Indian Wells," Norrie said. "It's nice to be through to the third round."

The 10th seed is off to a terrific start this year having beaten world number two Carlos Alcaraz in the Rio Open final last month to claim his fifth singles title.

Norrie's win comes a day after unseeded Britons Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu reached the second round at the ATP and WTA 1000 event in the Southern California desert with gutsy wins.

Norrie will face qualifier Taro Daniel after the Japanese player rallied to upset 20th seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy 7-6(5) 0-6 6-3 in the evening session.

Norwegian Casper Ruud's serve-forehand one-two punch proved too much for Diego Schwartzman as the third seed advanced 6-2 6-3 over a player who has given him trouble in the past.

"Everything sort of went my way," said Ruud, who now has four wins and five losses against the Argentine.

"Early on there were a couple of line shots and net cords that went my way, so I kind of felt that maybe today is my day."

Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev as well as American Frances Tiafoe all breezed into the third round with comprehensive straight sets wins in the evening session.

Sabalenka slays

On the women's side, second seed Aryna Sabalenka needed just over an hour to dispatch Russia's Evgeniya Rodina 6-2 6-0 as the Australian Open champion improved to 14-1 on the year.

"Happy to win this match in two sets without struggling too much," Sabalenka told reporters.

The Belarusian next faces Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko. Players from Belarus and Russia are once again playing under neutral flags at the tournament due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"It's going to be interesting match," Sabalenka said.

"She's a great player and it's going to be a great battle."

Swiss Jil Teichmann upset her doubles partner and countrywoman Belinda Bencic 3-6 6-3 6-3 on the Tokyo Olympic champion's 26th birthday to reach the third round for the first time.

Third seeded American Jessica Pegula roared back to beat Italy's Camila Giorgi 3-6 6-1 6-2 under the lights on center court to set up a third round showdown with Russia's Anastasia Potapova.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko upset Croatian Donna Vekic 2-6 6-2 6-2, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-5 3-6 6-2 and Czech Barbora Krejcikova breezed past Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska 6-1 6-2.



Luka Modric Signs with AC Milan After 13 Seasons at Real Madrid

 Luka Modric, AC Milan's new signing, arrives at the Madonnina clinic for medical examinations in Milan, Monday, July 14, 2025. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
Luka Modric, AC Milan's new signing, arrives at the Madonnina clinic for medical examinations in Milan, Monday, July 14, 2025. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
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Luka Modric Signs with AC Milan After 13 Seasons at Real Madrid

 Luka Modric, AC Milan's new signing, arrives at the Madonnina clinic for medical examinations in Milan, Monday, July 14, 2025. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
Luka Modric, AC Milan's new signing, arrives at the Madonnina clinic for medical examinations in Milan, Monday, July 14, 2025. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)

At age 39, Luka Modric is going to try and help restore seven-time European champion AC Milan to glory after one of the most disappointing Rossoneri seasons in recent memory.

The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner signed a one-year contract with Milan on Monday after saying goodbye to Real Madrid following 13 highly successful seasons in Spain. The deal includes an option for another season.

Modric grew up supporting Milan because his idol and fellow Croat, Zvonimir Boban, played for the club in the 1990s.

Modric announced in May that he was leaving Madrid after helping the Spanish powerhouse to 28 titles: Six European Cups, six Club World Cups, five European Super Cups, four Spanish leagues, two Copas del Rey and five Spanish Super Cups.

Milan finished eighth in Serie A last season and missed out on a spot in Europe.

The Italian club rehired Massimiliano Allegri as coach after the season, replacing the fired Sergio Conceicao.

Allegri won the Italian league for the first time with Milan in 2011, then guided Juventus to five straight titles from 2015-19.

Allegri reportedly called former Madrid and Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti to ask about Modric's form. Then new Milan sporting director Igli Tare traveled to Croatia's training camp last month to seal the deal with Modric.

The deal was made before the Club World Cup but Modric couldn't join his new club until he finished playing for Madrid at the tournament in the United States.

Madrid was beaten 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals in Modric's final match with the club.