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For defending and two-time champions, home favourites John Isner and Jack Sock are flying under the radar this year at the BNP Paribas Open.

The Indian Wells doubles draw is often loaded with a healthy smattering of singles stars in addition to the world's best duos. This year is no exception, with Indian Wells debutants Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov joining new-look teams like Frances Tiafoe and Stan Wawrinka, Ben Shelton and Holger Rune, and Casper Ruud and Dominic Thiem among in the 32-team field — thought the latter two pairs have already bowed out.

When the ATP Masters 1000 event put out a Twitter poll asking which of those four teams fans were most excited to see, Sock and Isner chimed in with a write-in candidate.

"No love for the defending champs? ?" Sock said. To which Isner replied: "Defending and two time champs. Ouch. ?"

"They tweeted something out and Jack took umbrage to that, and rightfully so I think," Isner told ATPTour.com, flashing a smile after the pair's first-round win on Friday night. "The crowd always enjoys watching us play here. We're two-time champs. Two years ago, I had to leave for the birth of my kid as we were making our way through the draw. I really like our chances. I really think we could become three-time champs. We'll try to get that done this year."

A three-week break from competition appeared to have done Jannik Sinner no harm at all on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open, where the 11th-seeded Italian downed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 7-6(2) in his opening match at the hard-court ATP Masters 1000 event.

Sinner was playing his first match since having a seven-match win streak snapped by Daniil Medvedev in the Rotterdam final on 19 February, and he made an uncertain start to his maiden ATP Head2Head meeting with the 16-time tour-level titlist Gasquet. Yet despite falling 0-2 behind early, the 21-year-old soon began to dominate with his trademark clean ballstriking, finishing with 28 winners in an accomplished one-hour, 34-minute triumph.

“[I’m] happy to be here, to step on court again,” said Sinner after his win. “Happy that I’m physically ready again and obviously it was a tough match today. Especially in the beginning I was a little bit tight, and then I started to loosen up a little bit and won the first match here which is very important for me.”

Sinner held his nerve against Gasquet in a tight second set that featured no break points for either player, dominating the tie-break to secure the win and improve his season record to 13-3. He showcased high-class decision-making throughout the match, combining aggressive groundstrokes with solid defence when required.

“I prefer to go more than less [aggressive],” said Sinner, when asked about his tactics for the desert conditions. “But for sure there is a balance you need to accept. Especially here, it can be a little bit breezy, a little bit windy… For sure the balance on the court is very important.”

John Isner and Jack Sock’s BNP Paribas Open title defence got off to the perfect start Friday when they clawed past third seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-7(6), 7-5, 10-7.

The Americans have fond memories in Indian Wells as a team, triumphing in 2018 and again last season when they dropped just one set en route to the title. Back in California this week, they saved all three break points they faced to defeat the 2022 Roland Garros champions after two hours and two minutes.

“If I failed to serve it out at 9/6 and 9/7 and we went on to lose the match, that would be tough,” said Isner, who hit a scorching forehand winner on match point. “You want to win for the crowd, so there was a lot of pressure. That was one of the better forehands I have hit.”

Isner and Sock will next meet Kevin Krawietz and Fabrice Martin.

Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini defeated eighth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-7(1), 6-4, 10-3. The Italians will next face Austin Krajicek and Mackenzie McDonald after the Americans defeated Australian Open champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-1.

The seeded stars in the top half of the BNP Paribas Open will kick off their campaigns Saturday, when Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime will be in action.

Top seed Alcaraz plays Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis and defending champion Fritz takes on #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton. Canadian Auger-Aliassime will start the quest for his first title of the year against Pedro Martinez.

Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner will also take to court in Indian Wells, where Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka look to build on their first-round wins.

ATPTour.com runs through some of the key second-round matchups on show.

View Draw | View Schedule

Andrey Rublev has amassed quite a following in the desert since he first competed in qualifying at the 2016 BNP Paribas Open. On Friday night, the sixth seed used the support of a packed Stadium 3 crowd to defeat Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, storming back from a break down in the second set.

The opponents previously split a pair of three-setters over the past 12 months, with Lehecka winning last month in Doha.

"We had a tough match in Doha," Rublev said after advancing to the Indian Wells third round. "He beat me and I wanted to see if I could take revenge. In the end I was able to win today, so I'm really happy."

At the year's first ATP Masters 1000, Rublev won the opening set without facing a break point but fell behind 0-2 in the second. He powered through the finish line from there, winning six straight games — including a 0/40 escape at 2-2 — with the crowd growing in volume with each point.

"The crowd, there are no words to describe how grateful I am," Rublev reflected. "I've been coming here every year since 2016. I can feel [the support]. This is my first match. Compared to last year... I was playing during the day last year. I think it was a full stadium but it was 50/50 support. Today I played a 10 p.m. match after a rain delay and had huge support, so it's unreal."

Rublev will meet Ugo Humbert in the third round after the Frenchman's 7-5, 6-4 win against 25th seed Denis Shapovalov.

Daniil Medvedev underlined his status as a hot favourite this week in the desert with a 6-4, 6-3 opening win against Brandon Nakashima on Friday night. The fifth seed entered the BNP Paribas Open as the ATP Tour's most in-form player, winning three consecutive titles and 14 straight matches, and his winning streak — now at 15 — was never in jeopardy thanks to an assured performance against the San Diego native.

Nakashima gave his home crowd plenty to cheer about, firing big forehands and defending brilliantly at times, and even hitting a tweener that his opponent volleyed into the net in set two. But Medvedev had all the answers when he needed them, saving all six break points against him to secure the win in one hour, 26 minutes at the year's first ATP Masters 1000.

"We had some good points," Medvedev said in his on-court interview. "That's probably the slowest hard court on the Tour. So many matches I see it's like rallies, rallies, rallies, so we're going to have some good points. There were some tough ones in the match, tough break-point saves. I'm happy that I managed to battle through."

[ATP APP]

Medvedev won the opening set by breaking at love for 3-2, claiming the lone break point of the set, and he drove his advantage home with an instant break in set two. He then escaped 0/40 at 2-1 and 15/40 at 4-3 before wrapping up the win with his third break in seven chances.

Roger Federer retired from professional tennis in 2022, but he continues to make an impact on the world. The Swiss legend’s eponymous foundation recently released its annual report to summarise its work through 2022 to help improve quality early education.

Although fans will not see him on court competitively anymore, Federer is focused on continuing his critical off-court work.

“While I understand the concerns about adjusting to this new pace, I can assure you that I am doing well and relishing this new chapter in my life, I have been keeping very busy with getting my body healed and working on existing and new projects,” Federer wrote in a letter. “It goes without saying that my foundation will be at the forefront of my priorities. The Roger Federer Foundation, which I established with my parents in 2003, has grown to be much larger than we initially envisioned during my playing days. This year, the foundation will celebrate its 20th anniversary, and I still recall signing the founding document.”

This last year, has been another impactful year for the foundation. We continue to make strides across Southern Africa with early childhood education. Please see some of the highlights we have achieved until the end of 2022 since the start of the foundation⬇️ @rogerfedererfdn pic.twitter.com/eZeJIoqzuE

The Roger Federer Foundation through 2022 helped 2.4 million children benefit from higher quality early education, operating in seven countries with 29 partner organisations. There were 77.5 million Swiss francs invested to help improve education in Switzerland and Southern Africa.

Arguably the most memorable match of the season came in the second round of the Australian Open, where after five hours and 45 minutes, Andy Murray rallied past home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis. The gruelling five-set encounter drew to a close at 4:05 a.m. in Melbourne, two hours from daybreak.

It would have been easy for Kokkinakis to fall into a slump after his defeat. The Australian let slip several leads against the former World No. 1 at his home Grand Slam, where he was pushing for a big run.

“Although it was a heartbreaking match to be honest and I had it in the bag a few times, as distraught as I was after the match, I actually really enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun out there,” Kokkinakis told ATPTour.com. “One of the only times I can say after a big loss, especially one where I was on the front foot the whole time, that I enjoyed it. Tennis is so results based that if you don’t win you’re just pissed and obviously I was pissed off, but I can look back at the summer I had and the level of tennis when I was playing at my best and try to take the positives away from that.”

Kokkinakis admitted he did not want to see a tennis racquet for a bit. But after a week, he was ready to put the Murray defeat behind him.

“I’ve gone through worse stuff than losing a tennis match from being in a winning position. In the scheme of things it hurts for a little bit, but I had a lot of good feedback, a lot of people came up to me,” Kokkinakis said. “Some idiots came up to me saying, ‘What happened?’ Not what I really wanted to talk about after, but for the most time it was encouraging signs.”

Australian Jordan Thompson held his nerve Friday afternoon to score a major upset at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

The 28-year-old defeated second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(0), 4-6, 7-6(5) in the second round of the season’s first Masters 1000 event. The early exit for Tsitsipas ends his chances of rising to World No. 1 across the 'Sunshine Double' events in Indian Wells and Miami.

“It’s unreal. At a Masters 1000, in the [Indian Wells] Tennis Garden here,” Thompson said. “It’s one of my favourite tournaments, I think a lot of players’ favourite tournaments to play. To have a win like that is incredible. [I’m] really happy.”

✌️ HIS SECOND TOP 10 WIN.

Look at what it means to @jordanthommmo2 ?@BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/GQp2kU6pCf

World No. 87 Thompson, who had lost both of his previous meetings against Tsitsipas (‘19 Washington, D.C., ‘22 Wimbledon), put on a strong display at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to earn his second Top-10 victory (‘17 Queen’s Club, d. Murray).

Are the desert conditions what Casper Ruud needs to ignite his 2023 season?

The Norwegian delivered a clinical opening performance to dispatch Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-3 on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. After a modest run of results by his high standards across January's Australian swing and in Acapulco last week, Ruud appeared to enjoy the slower conditions in southern California. With plenty of time to settle behind his huge forehand, the third seed powered 19 winners past Schwartzman en route to an 88-minute victory.

“I’m very happy with today’s win,” said Ruud after reducing his ATP Head2Head series deficit against Schwartzman to 4-5. “Straight sets, and 6-2, 6-3 might look comfortable, but it never is against Diego. You really have to play well. That’s what I did today.

"He could have played better, I could have probably played better as well, but today I played good enough and happy to get through in two straight sets against a player I’ve struggled with in the past.”

That's a sweet passing shot, @CasperRuud98 ?@BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/wFVDebAVuX

Australian Max Purcell went on a three-week trip to India in February with two things in mind: winning ATP Challenger Tour matches and spending less time on his cell phone.

The 24-year-old then went on a 15-match winning streak, triumphing at the Chennai, Bengaluru, and Pune Challengers. While he was enjoying a hot streak that helped him make his Top 100 debut, his phone was left cold in the hotel room.

“I made the choice to stop with distractions off court,” Purcell told ATPTour.com. “Especially through India, I wanted to be off my phone as much as I could. I wanted to make sure I was getting as much quiet time as I could and just make sure going into my matches that I didn’t bring anything else on the court.

“No extra emotions or anything like that. I just wanted to be as calm as I could and focus on my mission. That seemed to work out really well.”

The crowd was behind Jack Sock during his win Thursday evening against Gregoire Barrere at the BNP Paribas Open. The fans included a special guest: NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes.

Sock and Mahomes first met at the barber shop in Kansas City after the latter was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs. Sock, a massive fan of the team who was at this year’s Super Bowl, was thrilled to have Mahomes in the crowd at Indian Wells, where the quarterback also watched the action Wednesday.

“I’m definitely the one usually watching the TV or in person watching him, so it’s beyond special. I had a message from him right after, so that was special as well,” Sock told ATPTour.com. “We’ve gotten to know each other over the past few years when I was in Kansas City before I moved to North Carolina. I got to know him and we were able to play golf a few times. Just an awesome dude.

“For the position he’s in, the legacy he’s building and everything, he’s just the most normal, down-to-earth guy. It’s definitely special to have him out here.”

Super Bowl MVP tour ✈️
? Disneyland
? Indian Wells#TennisParadise | @PatrickMahomes pic.twitter.com/RuOyMNTdkb

Tung-Lin Wu was not meant to be a tennis player. His grandfather was the principal at an elementary school in Chinese Taipei and several other family members taught at elementary schools. His father, Chung-Fong, worked his way up to be a professor of exercise physiology.

“I think my father wanted me to go the same way as him,” Wu told ATPTour.com. “Because he gets a really good salary.”

But the family often did something ordinary that changed his trajectory — they would leave tennis on the television.

“They went out really early and came back really late, so for me and my cousin, the easiest way to set up the kids was to turn on the TV and do their thing,” Wu said. “My childhood was we either went to the club or stayed at home and the TV was on. We couldn’t reach the remote and it was on a sports channel with Wimbledon or baseball.”

Wu’s grandparents managed a private tennis club owned by a friend, so he would sometimes tag along to the facility.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud and Daniil Medvedev will begin their BNP Paribas Open campaigns Friday when the seeded stars enter the action at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells.

Second seed Tsitsipas faces Australian Jordan Thompson in the second round, while Medvedev aims to extend his 14-match winning streak when he takes on American Brandon Nakashima. Ruud will meet Argentine Diego Schwartzman.

Andrey Rublev, 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, German Alexander Zverev and Italian Matteo Berrettini are among the other seeds in action from the bottom half on Day 3 of the first Masters 1000 event of the season.

ATPTour.com runs through some of the key matchups on show in the Californian desert.

View Schedule | View Draw

Seven times this season Andy Murray has contested a deciding set. Each time, he has produced his best tennis in the clutch moments to win.

Lucky No. 7 came on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open, where the Briton beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round. Murray, who gave a glowing report on his fitness ahead of the tournament, outlasted the Argentine in a three-hour, 12-minute match to set up a second-round meeting with 15th seed Pablo Carreno Busta.

While Murray did not need to save a match point on this occasion — he saved eight last month in Doha, where he won four three-setters to reach his 71st tour-level final — he did have to fight off two break points at 3-4 in the final set. The 35-year-old scored the decisive break on his fifth break point of the ensuing game on an Etcheverry double fault.

Ethceverry troubled Murray in the early stages with his aggressive baseline game, combining power and spin to great effect. In a thrilling first-set tie-break, he thwarted a Murray pass attempt with fast hands at the net and later clipped the very edge of the line with a forehand winner on set point, leaving Murray incredulous.

Murray countered with depth and precision to turn the match around, finishing with 28 winners to his opponent's 36. He closed out the win with his sixth ace of the match.

Making his first appearance at the BNP Paribas Open since 2019, Stan Wawrinka played just three games before receiving treatment for a blockage in his left ear.

After having his ear checked out and receiving some drops, the 37-year-old produced two love holds to reassert himself in the match against Aleksandar Vukic. Wawrinka ultimately prevailed 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, extending his win streak in deciding sets to three.

"I've just had some ear problems since a few days, like I can't hear from it, it's completely blocked," the Swiss explained in his post-match press conference. "But not a big deal, it's just not easy to only have one ear and to feel completely free on the court.

"But I think in general I've been playing well and I've been practising good so I'm feeling physically and tennis-wise good. Happy get the win today, it's an important match and hopefully I can keep going."

The victory was also Wawrinka's first since he climbed back into the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last week, following consecutive quarter-final runs in Rotterdam and Marseille.

Ben Shelton got his breakthrough season back on track Thursday when he earned victory on his BNP Paribas Open debut.

The #NextGenATP American enjoyed a dream run to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January, but suffered first-round defeats in Delray Beach and Acapulco last month. However, the 20-year-old ensured his dip in form wouldn’t turn into a slump, defeating Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round in Indian Wells.

In a ruthless display, the lefty showed home fans a glimpse of his potential, whipping an array of forehand winners past the Italian to earn victory in their first ATP Head2Head meeting after one hour and 11 minutes.

The American hugged the baseline to dictate and was strong on return, hitting with precision to break three times.

Shelton, who reached the third round on his ATP Masters 1000 debut in Cincinnati last season, is up two spots to No. 39 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. The 20-year-old was outside the Top 500 one year ago.

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski began the quest to win their first title of the season Thursday when they defeated Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-1 at the BNP Paribas Open.

The top seeds won seven tour-level titles, including three ATP Masters 1000 crowns in 2022, but have yet to lift a trophy this season. They’ll be hoping their 62-minute win against Melo and Zverev is the start of a triumphant run in Indian Wells.

In a dominant performance, the Dutch-British tandem won 87 per cent (20/23) of their first-serve points to set a second-round meeting against Frances Tiafoe and Stan Wawrinka or Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta.

Teaming for the first time, Cameron Norrie and Lucas Miedler made a winning start when they downed Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski 3-6, 6-3, 10-6. The British-Austrian team will next meet Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov or #NextGenATP stars Holger Rune and Ben Shelton.