The Belarusian seed was really happy with the way she was serving
\n INDIAN WELLS
\nWorld number two Jannik Sinner overwhelmed Czech qualifier Dalibor Svrcina 6-1, 6-1 on Friday to launch his bid for a first Indian Wells hardcourt crown.
\nSinner, back in the California desert after missing last year\u2019s edition serving a drugs suspension, controlled every aspect of the 64-minute contest in which he faced just one break point.
\nAfter Svrcina held serve for 1-1 in the first set, Sinner won nine straight games before Svrcina managed another hold. The Czech fought valiantly to force Sinner to serve it out, saving three match points in the final game before Sinner closed it with one more service break.
\nIt was an auspicious start to a tournament in which the four-time Grand Slam champion\u2019s best runs ended in semi-final defeats to Carlos Alcaraz.
\nThis year he can\u2019t meet top-seeded Alcaraz — or third-seeded five-time champion Novak Djokovic — until the final.
\n\u201cI feel mentally I\u2019m in a good place,\u201d said Sinner, who lost to Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and was surprised by Jakub Mensik in the quarters at Doha last month.
\n\u201cI\u2019m calm, I\u2019m relaxed. But I\u2019m also very happy to compete. We did a lot of work. Many, many hours on court. Many hours in the gym. I\u2019m trying to get a little bit stronger.\u201d
\nWomen\u2019s world number one Aryna Sabalenka, also chasing a first title in the prestigious ATP\/WTA Masters 1000 event, opened in similarly dominant style, beating Japanese qualifier Himeno Sakatsume 6-4, 6-2.
\nSabalenka showed no sign of rust in her first tournament since a runner-up finish to Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open.
\n\u201cI\u2019m really happy with the way I was serving, with the way I was putting her on the back foot,\u201d said Sabalenka, who has twice reached the Indian Wells final but lost to Rybakina in 2023 and to Mirra Andreeva last year.
\nA nervous Sakatsume, ranked 136th, dropped her serve in the opening game but steadied after saving four break points to hold in the fifth.
\nEven so, she had no real answer to the Belarusian\u2019s power and the lone break was enough for Sabalenka to seize the opening set.
\nAfter Sakatsume held serve to open the second, Sabalenka won five straight games, closing out the match without facing a break point.
\nMen\u2019s fourth-seed Alexander Zverev also sailed into the third round, beating Italian Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-4 without facing a break point.
\nIt was an encouraging start for the German, who fell in his opening match last year and has never made it past the quarter-finals in the California desert.
\n\u201cI have struggled in Indian Wells before, but I feel different this year,\u201d he said.
\nHungarian veteran Marton Fucsovics pulled the first big upset, ousting fifth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-1.
\nIt was another disappointing setback for Musetti, who was playing his first tournament since he retired with a right leg injury while leading 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic by two sets in the Australian Open quarter-finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Belarusian seed was really happy with the way she was serving INDIAN WELLS World number two Jannik Sinner overwhelmed Czech qualifier Dalibor Svrcina 6-1, 6-1 on Friday to launch his bid for a first Indian Wells hardcourt crown. Sinner, back in the California desert after missing last year\u2019s edition serving a drugs suspension, controlled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-535435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n