Qualifier Cristian Garin of Chile pulled off a 6-4, 7-6 (2) upset of third-seeded Casper Ruud in their round-of-32 match Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
Garin, ranked 97th in the world, finished with 39 winners to 17 for the Norwegian Ruud, who is No. 4 in the ATP Rankings. Garin has won three times in four matches against Ruud.
In the second set tiebreaker, Garin opened a 3-0 lead, including one break of Ruud. After Ruud held serve to make it 3-2, Garin rattled off four straight points, including two more breaks of Ruud.
“I like to play aggressive and move a lot to the net, and I think Casper is a really good player when you give time to him,” Garin said, also calling Ruud “one of the players that I really admire on Tour.”
Garin said he has “known Casper for a very long time, so it’s very special to keep playing like this in this tournament, so I want to keep going.”
Garin’s next opponent will be the 23rd seed, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Spaniard dispatched 13th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 on Sunday.
Ahead 3-2 in the third set, Davidovich Fokina needed three break points but subdued Khachanov for a 4-2 lead. The Russian later broke serve to pull within 5-4, but Davidovich Fokina won another lengthy game, clinching on his third match point.
Davidovich Fokina survived 27 unforced errors to Khachanov’s 12 in large part by scoring 35 winners to his opponent’s 17.
Otherwise, form held at Indian Wells, although the No. 10 seed, Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, needed three sets to defeat qualifier Taro Daniel of Japan, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2.
Fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia also needed three sets to advance, eliminating Ilya Ivashka of Belarus with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 triumph. Another Russian, No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev, defeated Frenchman Ugo Humbert 7-5, 6-3.
Alexander Zverev of Germany, the 12th seed, went the distance before finishing off Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5. Fourteenth-seeded Frances Tiafoe of the United States knocked off Australian Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-2.
Qualifier Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, who is ranked 187th in the world, defeated Jordan Thompson of Australia 6-3, 7-6 (6).
–Field Level Media