Indian Wells, March 10: Novak Djokovic made a winning return to the desert, beating Aleksandar Vukic 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday in his first match at the BNP Paribas Open in five years.
The 24-time Grand Slam singles champion joined Rafael Nadal as the only players to win 400 matches in ATP Masters 1000 series events. The top-ranked Djokovic is a five-time champion at Indian Wells, tied with Roger Federer for most by a male, but hadn’t played in the event since 2019.
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka also won – barely – rallying to win their opening matches in third-set tiebreakers.
Gauff edged Clara Burel 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). The US Open women’s champion trailed 4-0 and then 5-2 in the third set, leaving her a game away from becoming the second top American upset by Burel this year. The No. 47-ranked player from France beat No. 5 Jessica Pegula in the second round of the Australian Open.
Sabalenka, the two-time Australian Open champion who lost to Gauff in the final at Flushing Meadows, fought off four match points before outlasting American Peyton Stearns 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (6).
The No. 2 seed will face Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open women’s champion who reached the third round when No. 30-seeded Dayana Yastremska had to retire after Raducanu had taken a 4-0 lead. (AP)
