World quantity two Carlos Alcaraz acquired off to a stuttering begin in his Indian Wells Masters title defence on Friday however turned the tables to beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, 6-1.
The second-round success served as a welcome health check for the 20-year-old Spaniard, who rolled his ankle a fortnight in the past in Rio and retired from his first-round match there.
Alcaraz gathered his forces after dropping the opening set towards Arnaldi, slicing his unforced error rely from 23 within the first set to a mere eight for the rest of the competition.
The reigning Wimbledon champion misplaced only one extra sport as he got here by way of in two and 1 / 4 hours, concluding with 22 winners.
Alcaraz stated his ankle felt higher than anticipated.
“Truthfully, it stunned me,” he stated. “I felt nice, transferring usually with out fascinated by it.
“It was a very good match to understand that I’m higher than I imagined,” added Alcaraz, who subsequent performs Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova additionally superior with ease, beating American Bernarda Pera with the lack of simply two video games. Vondrousova took simply 64 minutes to dispatch Pera 6-0, 6-2.
However Elena Rybakina’s WTA title defence ended with no ball struck as she withdrew earlier than her scheduled opener with a gastrointestinal challenge.
Alex de Minaur, the tenth seed coming off a triumph in Acapulco on the weekend, regained some Aussie satisfaction as he crushed Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-2.
German sixth seed Alexander Zverev moved by way of with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Australian Christopher O’Connell.
His compatriot Angelique Kerber lifted the tempo of her maternity return as she upset fellow Grand Slam winner Jelena Ostapenko in a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
The 34-year-old German, who grew to become a mum final summer season and returned to the courts in January, gained two consecutive matches for the primary time since Wimbledon two years in the past.