No. 123 Nardi defeats Djokovic at Indian Wells
Luca Nardi whipped his racket through the air and smashed an ace to his left, out of the reach of Novak Djokovic for match point, securing an upset over the top-ranked player in the world at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
Nardi, ranked No. 123, totaled six aces, converted 2 of 4 break-point opportunities and totaled 34 winners in the 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 triumph Monday.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Nardi, who said he has a Djokovic poster on his bedroom door, told reporters. “I couldn’t even imagine playing a match against him and now I also beat him.
“It’s a dream come true for me.”
Djokovic, 36, logged four aces, converted 3 of 11 break points and fired 17 winners. The Serbian was making his first appearance in the tournament since 2019, an absence related to COVID-19 travel restrictions and his unvaccinated status. He is a five-time champion at Indian Wells.
“He really didn’t have anything to lose,” Djokovic said. “He played great and deserved to win. I was more surprised with my level. My level was really, really bad.”
Djokovic owns nearly 100 career titles, while Nardi, 20, is still searching for his first. The Italian made his ATP maindraw debut in 2020.
Nardi is already up 28 spots in the live rankings and inside the Top 100 because of his run at the BNP Paribas Open. He will face No. 17 Tommy Paul of the United States in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
No. 4 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, No. 7
Holger Rune of Denmark, No. 9 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 12
Taylor Fritz of the United States and No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria were among the top men to win their matches Monday at the Masters 1000 event, one of the top nonGrand Slam tournaments on the ATP schedule.
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 3
Coco Gauff of Delray
Beach, No. 9 Maria Sakkari of Greece and No. 11 Daria Kasatkina of Russia were the top women to advance through Monday’s matches.
The men’s and women’s finals will be held Sunday and air on the Tennis Channel.
— UPI.COM
NBA
Hawks: Forward
●
Saddiq Bey will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the ACL in
his left knee Sunday in a loss to New Orleans. Bey, 24, is averaging 13.7 points and 6.5 rebounds this season.
Magic: Orlando announced
● a four-year extension with coach Jamahl Mosley. The extension runs through the 2027-28 season for Mosley, 45, who was hired in July 2021. The Magic entered Tuesday in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a 37-28 record — already a threewin improvement over last season (34-48). Orlando is poised to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20. The Magic ranks third in the NBA in scoring defense (109.4 points per game) this season.
Mosley spent seven seasons (2014-21) as an assistant coach with Dallas before joining the Magic. He was also on the staffs of Cleveland and Denver.
Raptors: Forward
●
Otto Porter Jr., who played a total of only 23 games this season and last season for Toronto, announced his retirement at 30. He played 11 seasons in the NBA.
NHL Vancouver: Thatcher Demko
Goaltender ● will be out 2-4 weeks with a knee injury, TSN reported. Demko, 28, leads the NHL with 34 wins (3413-2) this season and has five shutouts, a 2.47 goalsagainst average and a .917 save percentage. Casey DeSmith will likely be in goal when Vancouver hosts Colorado on Wednesday.