Rublev, Zverev win desert openers

Fifth seed Andrey Rublev survived an early scare from Andy Murray before channeling his massive forehand to charge to an opening-round victory at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday.

The World No. 5 fought off four set points and six break points in the first set before riding 28 forehand winners to a 7-6(3), 6-1 victory to take a 2-1 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“He had a lot of chances in the first set and I was lucky to win. Had I lost it, it would have been really, really tough,” Rublev said. “After the first set I felt more confidence and I knew that it would be even tougher for Andy to keep up his consistency.”

Rublev showed composure under fire when serving at 4-5 0/40 in the first set, but dug deep to claw back to deuce, ultimately saving a fourth set point before taking the opener in a tie-break.

Murray played some of his best tennis of the season in the set, cracking his two-handed backhand to great effect and taking advantage of a slew of unforced errors from the 26-year-old.

Just as there had been one pivotal game in the first set, so too did a crucial game come in the second. In the fourth game Murray led 40/0 on serve but after some explosive returning Rublev worked his way back into the game and eventually claimed a break to go ahead 3-1.

Such was the intensity of the 11-minute game that Rublev mistakenly sat down, thinking it was a change of ends. “That one game took longer than two normal games, so I thought it was for sure a changeover,” a sheepish Rublev said on court after the match.

A 2022 semi-finalist in Indian Wells, Rublev has reached the quarter-finals or better of all five previous tournaments he has played this year, a run that includes his 15th title in Hong Kong.

Rublev will next play the winner of American wild card Brandon Nakashima and Czech 32nd seed Jiri Lehecka.

Rublev's forehand delivered 🔥@tennis_insights | #ShotQuality pic.twitter.com/b0wGHU4beR

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 9, 2024

Sixth seed Alexander Zverev booked his place in the third round after defeating Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-4 in one hour, 56 minutes. The 26-year-old produced heavy hitting and struck 27 winners, 19 from his forehand according to Infosys ATP Stats, to improve to 2-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head with O’Connell.

“For me, he is a very difficult opponent. He has a lot of shots that are uncomfortable for me,” Zverev said of O’Connell, who the German lost to last year in Munich. “I’m extremely happy to be in winning ways again. Definitely happy to win in two sets.”

A 21-time tour-level titlist, Zverev is hoping for a strong showing this fortnight in Indian Wells, where his best result is a quarter-final appearance in 2021.

Zverev is No. 6 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, just 20 points behind Rublev. Should he do better in Indian Wells that Rublev, the Olympic champion will return to the Top 5 at the end of the tournament.

“I’ve had some great matches here, but unfortunately I’ve lost a lot of them 7-6 in the third, 7-5 in the third,” Zverev said. “A lot of times, they were very close matches. I remember at the beginning of my career I lost 7-5 in the third to Rafa from match point up. Last year I lost 7-5 in the third to Medvedev. The year I made the quarter-finals, I lost 7-6 in the third to Fritz… I hope it’s going to be different this year.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas did not face a break point in his 6-3, 6-2 win over Frenchman Lucas Pouille. In the third round the 11th-seeded Greek will play Frances Tiafoe after the American beat Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-3.

Tiafoe will be aiming to win consecutive matches at a tour-level event for just the second time this season when he meets Tsitsipas. The American's best result this year was a semi-final showing in Delray Beach.

Last year in the desert, the 26-year-old enjoyed a run to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. Tiafoe did not drop a set en route to the last four before Daniil Medvedev stopped him.