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.



Real Hurting after European Exit but No Issues with Club, Says Ancelotti

Soccer Football - Champions League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Real Madrid v Arsenal - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - April 16, 2025 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts before the match REUTERS/Juan Medina
Soccer Football - Champions League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Real Madrid v Arsenal - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - April 16, 2025 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts before the match REUTERS/Juan Medina
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Real Hurting after European Exit but No Issues with Club, Says Ancelotti

Soccer Football - Champions League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Real Madrid v Arsenal - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - April 16, 2025 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts before the match REUTERS/Juan Medina
Soccer Football - Champions League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Real Madrid v Arsenal - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - April 16, 2025 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts before the match REUTERS/Juan Medina

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said his side were still hurting after the holders were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals but there had been no falling out with the club hierarchy after their European exit.

Arsenal beat the 15-times European champions in both legs to advance to the semi-finals with a 5-1 aggregate victory which leaves Ancelotti's side fighting only on the domestic front.

Real are in the Copa del Rey final where they face Barcelona, who are four points ahead of Ancelotti's side in LaLiga. Real host fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Real president Florentino Perez has been known to be ruthless in sacking coaches who fail but Italian Ancelotti, the only manager to win the Champions League five times, said rumours of any friction with the club were false.

"I have spoken to the players and I have spoken to the club. We are all on the same page. We are all hurt because we exited the competition in which we have been most successful. You can't always win," Ancelotti told reporters.

"We have the same idea, there is no conflict with the club. Whoever says that there is a conflict is false, the president shows more affection in these moments than when we win.

"The Champions League is the most important competition for everyone. And the Champions League is the most important history of Madrid. But it's not true that the rest do not count."

Ancelotti said what hurt most was the stinging criticism that followed their exit but the 65-year-old refused to blame the squad, saying he had a "great relationship" with his players.

"The reality is that in this world everything is questioned," he said. "Questioning a club that has won almost 30 titles in the last decade seems misleading to me.

"The only thing I want to do is thank all these players because I've had a great time so far and I want to continue doing so ... These players have given me the opportunity to win two Champions Leagues in recent years."

Sunday's opponents Athletic, on the other hand, reached the Europa League semi-finals and Ancelotti congratulated them.

"It's going to be an intense match, both teams played during the week," he said. "They're getting closer to reaching the final at San Mames. We want to stay in the fight for LaLiga."