By Kwame Bediako
Five-time Indian Wells champion Novak Djokovic suffered a shocking first-round exit at the hands of lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp. The 24-time Grand Slam winner, seeded sixth, struggled with consistency, committing 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. Van de Zandschulp’s victory over Djokovic is not his first upset over a top player. He previously stunned Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open and Rafael Nadal in the Davis Cup.
In other matches, two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over France’s Quentin Halys. Italian Matteo Arnaldi also sprang an upset, beating seventh seed Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-5. The tournament has already seen several top seeds eliminated, including Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud. Alcaraz is now the highest seed left in the men’s draw, and he is trying to join Djokovic and Roger Federer as the only men to win three straight Indian Wells titles.
Women’s world number one Aryna Sabalenka opened her campaign with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 victory over rising US talent McCartney Kessler. Madison Keys, who denied Sabalenka a third straight Australian Open title, subdued hard-hitting Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-0 in her first match since then. Americans Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff also advanced, with Fritz defeating Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante 7-5, 6-3, and Gauff surviving 21 double faults to beat Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4).
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