**Indian Wells (United States) (AFP)** – Australian Open champion Madison Keys breezed into the third round at Indian Wells on Saturday, subduing hard-hitting Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-0 in her first match since her maiden Grand Slam triumph. Keys, whose victory over two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in Melbourne was the culmination of a 15-year journey from teenage prodigy to major champion, reached a career-high ranking of fifth in the world on Monday. She showed no sign of rust as she dispatched Potapova in 63 minutes.
“She’s always a tough opponent, just because she can hit so hard and she is such a great ball-striker,” Keys said after the second-round victory. “I really just kind of had to try to keep the ball away from her, and I feel like I did a pretty good job with that.”
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Keys kicked off an action-packed day on Stadium Court in the prestigious combined ATP Masters and WTA 1000 event. Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz launched his bid for a rare three-peat — something achieved only by Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer at Indian Wells — against France’s 59th-ranked Quentin Halys. With world number one Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban and No.2 Alexander Zverev sent packing on Friday, Spain’s No.3 Alcaraz is the highest ranked player left in the men’s draw.
Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion chasing a record sixth Indian Wells ATP crown, then tackles Dutch lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp — the world number 85 who toppled Alcaraz at the US Open last year and beat Rafael Nadal in Davis Cup play in what proved to be the last match of the Spaniard’s career. With a win, Djokovic would tie Nadal for the most ATP Masters 1000 match victories at 410.
Since winning his last Indian Wells title in 2016, Djokovic is a modest 4-4 in matches in the California desert. That includes a third-round loss to lucky loser Luca Nardi last year — Djokovic’s first appearance here since 2019. With the hamstring injury that forced him out of the Australian Open semi-finals behind him, the Serb star said he is hoping the coaching of former rival Andy Murray can help him make a deep run.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka launches her bid for an elusive Indian Wells title against hard-hitting American McCartney Kessler, a two-time WTA champion who beat world number three Coco Gauff in Dubai last month before reaching the final in Austin last week. Saturday also featured a raft of American contenders that included 2022 men’s champion Taylor Fritz, 11th seed Ben Shelton, and Sebastian Korda, and on the women’s side third-seeded Gauff and 10th seed Emma Navarro — who secured her second career title in Merida, Mexico, last week.
© 2024 AFP
