Denis Shapovalov cruised to victory in the second round at Indian Wells, defeating qualifier Adam Walton 6-3, 6-2.
After seeing his eight-match win streak, which included his third-career title, snapped in the semifinals in Dallas, Shapovalov got back on track with an early-round win at the BNP Paribas Open.
He will advance to the third round to face the No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz.
Shapovalov got off to a good start in the second-round match, breaking Walton in his second service game to take a 3-1 lead. However, the Australian came right back with a break of his own to even the set. Walton had a glorious chance to flip the match on its head up 0-40 with three break chances but Shapovalov was able to fight off all three chances to take the game and regain the advantage in the set.
The 25-year-old would carry that momentum forward and win the remaining two games to take the first 6-3. Shapovalov was excellent with his back against the wall, saving six of seven break points in the first set and eight-of-10 overall.
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The two once again exchanged breaks early in the second set. Shapovalov grabbed all the momentum when he earned his second break of the set to take a 3-2 lead. He would not drop a game for the rest of the match as he rolled to victory.
Shapovalov put pressure on Walton’s serve all day, breaking the qualifier five times and allowing him to win just 57 per cent of his first serve points and 24 per cent of his second serves.
Shapovalov is 0-1 against Alcaraz head-to-head. Their lone match came in the round of 32 at Roland-Garros in 2023 where the Canadian lost in straight sets.
The Canadian entered the tournament as the 27th seed and in good form after reaching the semis in Acapulco last week and winning his first title of the season at the Dallas Open in early February.
Auger-Aliassime ousted by Brooksby
Félix Auger-Aliassime could not continue his early 2025 momentum in the first 1000-level tournament of the ATP season, dropping his opening match at Indian Wells to Jenson Brooksby in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Auger-Aliassime received a bye to the second round of the BNP Paribas Open as the tournament’s No. 17 seed but was handily defeated by his opponent, who defeated Benjamin Bonzi to reach the second round.
The 24-year-old Canadian struggled with his usually reliable serve, winning just 67 per cent of his first serve points to Brooksby’s 79 per cent.
Brooksby will face Jack Draper in the third round.
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Brooksby took control of the match late in the first, breaking Auger-Aliassime to go up 5-4. The American would close out the set on serve, saving a pair of break points to take the first set 6-4.
Things nearly fell apart for the Montreal native early in the second set as he fell behind 15-40 on serve as Brooksby looked to take control of the match with his second break. Auger-Aliassime forced a deuce with his first ace of the match and forced a pair of errors from his opponent to hold serve and take a 2-1 lead.
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The relief was short-lived for Auger-Aliassime, as Brooksby completed his next break opportunity on the Canadian’s next service game to take a 3-2 lead. Brooksby would cruise from that point on and did not drop another game for the remainder of the match.
This was the second match between the two, with Brooksby also winning the first at the Citi Open in 2021.
Auger-Aliassime entered the tournament as the ATP Tour leader in wins (16), finals (3), and titles (2).
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Fernandez falls to Cristian
Jaqueline Cristian rallied after losing the first set to defeat Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the second round at Indian Wells.
The Canadian was broken four times in the match including twice in the third-and-deciding set.
Fernandez is now on a three-match losing streak after falling to Elise Mertens in the first round in Dubai and to Amanda Anisimova in the Round of 16 at the Qatar Open.
It’s the second consecutive year that the Laval, Que., native has bowed out in her first match at Indian Wells after losing to Diane Perry in the second round in 2024.
The world No. 79 advances to take on Jasmine Paolini in the third round.
Cristian used her power early in the match to break Fernandez and jump out to an early 2-0 lead and appeared poised to take command of the first set but Fernandez fought back for a break of her own to get back on serve.
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The Canadian squandered a chance to break Cristian for a second time, earning a double break point with the first set tied 4-4 before the Romanian rallied to take the game. Fernandez took control of the first set after firing a spectacular backhand winner to earn another double break point. This time, she would not miss the opportunity and completed her second break to go up 6-5 and was able to hold serve to win the first set.
It was more of the same for Fernandez to begin the second set after she hit a spectacular cross-court forehand to close out the first game at love to go up a set and a break.
Cristian flipped the match on its head after going down 3-1 in the second set, breaking the Canadian for the second time in the match to get back on serve. Fernandez was on the brink of dropping the set while on serve but battled back to even things at 5-5 after Cristian hit a pair of returns wide.
Facing another pair of set points, Fernandez again held serve to force a tiebreaker but was unable to capitalize as Cristian took the tiebreaker 7-5 to force a third set.
Cristian immediately gained the upper hand in the third, breaking Fernandez on the first service game, while holding on both of her opportunities. She broke Fernandez again to go up a pair of breaks and would not relinquish the lead.
Fellow Canadian Gabriel Diallo had his run at Indian Wells cut short on Friday after he was bounced by 20th seed Arthur Fils in the second round in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. The Montreal native entered the main draw as the lucky loser and advanced to the second round following a three-set win over Zhizhen Zhang.
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