Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Upsets rule 4th round at Indian Wells; Swiatek, Murray out

Andy Murray returns a shot to Alexander Zverev at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, on Oct. 12, 2021. (Mark J. Terrill / AP) Andy Murray returns a shot to Alexander Zverev at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, on Oct. 12, 2021. (Mark J. Terrill / AP)
Share

Upsets dominated the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday, with four top-five seeds getting dismissed in straight sets. Andy Murray and U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez were knocked out, too.

No. 2 Iga Swiatek, the highest remaining women's seed, lost to No. 24 Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-3. Ostapenko rallied from a break down in both sets on a day when the weather calmed down from the rain and wind that affected some of Monday's matches.

Top-seeded Karolina Pliskova was upset a day earlier, when she lost to Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3, 7-5. Haddah Maia wasn't able to follow up her big win, offering little resistance in losing to Anett Kontaveit 6-0, 6-2.

No. 3 Barbora Krejcikova was beaten by 21st-seeded Paula Badosa 6-1, 7-5.

American Jessica Pegula routed No. 5 Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time at Indian Wells. Pegula connected on 70% of her serves and won 22 of 26 first-serve points in the 68-minute match. She didn't face a break point.

"Really solid win. Didn't make a lot of errors and was still aggressive. Played the big points well," Pegula said. "I've just been really mentally tough this week. I've been fighting for every single point."

Fernandez had five double faults in losing to Shelby Rogers 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4). Rogers stunned world No. 1 Ash Barty in the third round at last month's Open before falling to eventual champion Emma Raducanu in the fourth round.

"It was an incredible battle," Rogers said. "We both played really well at times and it was a sort of tug-of-war kind of match and one that's really fun to play. The crowd was into it on both sides."

Fernandez and partner Coco Gauff later lost 7-5, 6-4 to Su-Wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens in the doubles quarterfinals.

Former top-ranked Victoria Azarenka ended the run of Aliaksandra Sanovich 6-3 6-4. Sanovich had defeated major winners Raducanu and Simona Halep in back-to-back matches to reach the fourth round.

On the men's side, American Taylor Fritz beat No. 5 Matteo Berretini 6-4, 6-3. Karen Khachanov defeated No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta 6-0, 6-4.

No. 3 Alexander Zverev and No. 6 Casper Ruud survived the onslaught of upsets.

Zverev defeated Murray 6-4, 7-6 (4), with each man firing eight aces. Ruud outlasted Lloyd Harris 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4.

A frustrated Murray tossed his racket at the end of the tiebreaker. He was seeking his first win over a Top-5 player since 2016. But Zverev, the gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, had won 18 of his last 19 matches.

"There was no sort of consistency," Murray said. "It was either good or bad."

Murray received a wild-card into the event as he continues on the comeback trail. He had hip surgery in 2018 and injured his groin in March.

Fritz earned his seventh career win against a Top-10 player, winning not far from where he grew up in the Los Angeles area.

"I've been looking for some better results in these big events for a bit. I've let more than a couple slip away from me," Fritz said. "I'm pretty comfortable here. I feel if anything more confident here because it's close to home and the crowd is always great for me here."

Jannick Sinner advanced via walkover against American John Isner.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

A B.C. condo owner who was blamed for a cockroach infestation in her building and charged thousands of dollars for the cost of eradicating the bugs must be refunded, the civil resolution tribunal ruled.

Local Spotlight

On Saturday night at her parents’ home in Delaware, Ont. the Olympic bronze medallist in pole vault welcomed everyone who played a role in getting her to the podium in Paris.

A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.

When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.

A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.

Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.

Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.

A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.

An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.

Stay Connected