Although the Masters tournament in Indian Wells is only just starting, there were some great surprises. In the second round, Stefanos Tsitsipas (3rd ATP) was eliminated from the competition, losing to Jordan Thompson (87th ATP) 7:6 (7:0) 4:6 7:6 (7:5).
Tennis likes surprises and we saw one last night in Indian Wells, California. Although Stefanos Tsitsipas was one of the favorites to win the entire tournament, completely unexpectedly the match of his life was played by the much lower ranked Australian Jordan Thompson, who so far stood out above all with his characteristic mustache.
The new king of tie-breaks
The match itself proceeded in a way that is quite characteristic of modern men’s tennis, in which the serve is becoming more and more important. The first and third sets, which ended in tie-breaks, showed this. In the game starting the meeting, the final game had an extremely interesting course. Tsitsipas, despite serving three times, did not manage to score a single point, which the rival took advantage of.
In the second set, the Greek started with a strong stroke, as he managed to break the lower ranked Thompson for the first time. A few moments later, however, the situation evened out, as it was the Australian who broke Tsitsipas. As if that wasn’t enough, in the third game No. 3 of the ATP world ranking, he again took away the opponent’s pass, later not being caught up.
The tie-break in the third set was much more interesting. Both tennis players at the beginning of it lost one point each on their own serve, going head to head. Tsitsipas’s service at 5:5 turned out to be the key. Then Thompson took advantage of a good opportunity and reached for a mini-break, which gave him a match ball, and such situations the Australian does not usually miss. In the end, the match ended with the score 7:6 (7:0) 4:6 7:6 (7:5).
In the third round, a slightly easier match awaits Thompson. His next rival will be the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (187th ATP). Recall that on the night from Saturday to Sunday, Hubert Hurkacz (11th ATP) will also play his match, who will face Alexei Popyrin (101st ATP).
