Sebastián Báez
, the best Argentine racket of the moment, continues to rise.
This Saturday, he defeated the Italian
Fabio Fognini
in two sets in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 to achieve his tenth consecutive victory on the ATP professional circuit in an exceptional start to the season.
Báez, number 19 in the ATP, beat veteran Fognini (108th) 7-5 and 6-3 in California.
The 23-year-old born in San Martín will meet again in the next phase with the local idol
Taylor Fritz
, who previously got rid of the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo on Saturday.
The Californian, champion of the event in 2022, eliminated Báez in the last edition in a third-round match.
Exempt from playing the first round as seeded this year, Báez was very solid in his debut in the desert Indian Wells.
The Buenos Aires native only gave up one break and took advantage of the facilities granted to him by Fognini, 36, who committed up to six double faults in the first set.
The Argentine started the year brilliantly, with the titles in Santiago and Rio de Janeiro, both on clay surfaces, and now has six trophies in his career.
Albiceleste tennis has two other representatives in the third round of Indian Wells:
Francisco Cerúndolo
, who will clash with the American Ben Shelton, and
Nadia Podoroska
, who will clash with the Russian Anastasiya Potápova.
Djokovic should have worked more than necessary
Novak Djokovic
passed a tough test this Saturday in his debut in Indian Wells, where he had not competed since 2019.
That is why he was received with a huge ovation by the around 10,000 fans, where he could not travel in recent years due to his anti-vaccine position.
The world number one, exempt from playing the first round, debuted against
Aleksander Vukic
, an Australian tennis player of Balkan origins.
Photo: EFE/EPA/RAY ACEVEDO
Djokovic, who had not competed since his defeat in January in the Australian Open semifinals, needed three sets to get rid of Vukic, number 69 in the ATP, by a score of 6-2, 5-7 and 6-3 after two hours and 12 minutes of play.
"It's my first match since the Australian Open, so I was nervous at the beginning
," 'Nole' admitted.
"I played well in the first set, he had the moment in the second and I'm happy with how I finished the match."
The Serbian giant thus reached 400 victories throughout his career in Masters 1000 tournaments, the second highest category after the Grand Slams.
Right back at it!
😎
The 5x champ @DjokerNole picks up his 400th Masters 1000-level win after getting past Vukic in a tight opening contest!#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/IN3UJJtZQ6
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 10, 2024
Only the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who dropped out at the last minute in the Californian desert, has won more Masters 1000 matches (406), but Djokovic holds the record for titles with 40.
The rival of 'Nole', five-time winner in Indian Wells, in the third round will be the young Italian Luca Nardi, number 123 in the world ranking.
In the rest of the day, Spain was left without one of its greatest hopes with the fall of Alejandro Davidovich against the French promise Arthur Fils 6-3 and 6-4.
One of the candidates for victory, the Danish Holger Rune, seventh seed, advanced in the morning due to the abandonment of the Canadian Milos Raonic due to physical problems.
Results of the day
Second round
Novak Djokovic (SRB/N.1) defeated Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
Luca Nardi (ITA) beats Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Ugo Humbert (FRA/N.14) beats Patrick Kypson (USA) 6-4, 6-4
Arthur Fils (FRA) defeats Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP/N.23) 6-3, 6-4
Cameron Norrie (GBR/N.28) beats Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 6-4, 6-4
Sebastian Korda (USA/N.29) defeats Roman Safiullin (RUS) 6-4, 6-2
Adrian Mannarino (FRA/N.21) defeats Tomás Machac (CZE) 6-1, 6-2
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL/N.13) defeats Alexandre Muller (FRA) 7-5, 6-2
Taylor Fritz (USA/N.12) defeats Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) 7-6 (7/2), 6-2
Sebastián Báez (ARG/N.19) defeats Fabio Fognini (ITA) 7-5, 6-3
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA/N.26) defeats Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
Holger Rune (DEN/N.7) to Milos Raonic (CAN) did not show up