INDIAN WELLS, California, USA. —
Luca Nardi used a combination of poise and power to surprise his childhood idol and top seed Novak Djokovic with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory Monday night in the third round of the Indian Open. Wells.
Nardi, who is 123 in the world ranking, closed his big surprise over the world number one with an ace. The 20-year-old Italian dropped his racket and put his hands to his face almost in disbelief before shaking Djokovic’s hand at the net.
Nardi set the tone early on with his hard-hitting strikes and frustrated Djokovic all night. There was a moment when the Italian was surprised by an “in” call and casually returned a shot that turned out to be a winner, which led the Serbian to complain to the center judge.
And to think that Nardi was almost heading home. He entered the main draw of the tournament as a “lucky loser”, that is, a player who was one step away from qualifying, but who enters as a replacement for an injured player who abandons before the first round. In Nardi’s case, he took the place of No. 30 Tomas Martin Etcheverry and received an automatic first-round bye.
“It’s a miracle,” Nardi said in a post-match interview on the Tennis Channel. “I’m 20 years old, I’m 100 in the world and I beat Novak. Crazy. Crazy”.
GAUFF CELEBRATES HIS BIRTHDAY EARLY
Coco Gauff gave herself an early birthday gift by beating Lucia Bronzetti 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the third round at Indian Wells on Monday.
Gauff, who turns 20 on Wednesday, struggled but found a way to hold serve and saved 10 of 11 break points. He ended the match with a body serve that Bronzetti couldn’t return. Gauff extended his winning streak in the United States to 18 matches, a streak that included his title win last year at the US Open.
Bronzetti came close to forcing the third set when he broke Gauff to go up 5-4 in the tiebreaker. Gauff won the next three points.
Gauff will face Elise Mertens in the round of 16. Mertens beat Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-4. Osaka played the fifth tournament of her return after her maternity leave in 2023.
Two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka beat 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-3, 7-5 to advance. Sabalenka, the second seed, maintained her composure in moments of stress. She is known for breaking rackets, something she is trying to change.
“It’s a new approach to complicated situations,” Sabalenka said on the television broadcast. “Don’t focus on the negative and try to stay positive.”
In the men, Holger Rune played his first match of the tournament and beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 7-6 (5) to advance to the round of 16. Rune bye the first round and did not play the second after Milos Raonic withdrew due to injury.
Gael Monfils won a three-set thriller over Cameron Norrie, the 2021 tournament winner, in a match that lasted more than three hours. Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul won in straight sets.