Swiatek and Murray win at Indian Wells
Iga Swiatek routed 25thseeded Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-0 on Sunday to reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Andy Murray had to work a lot harder to get there.
Swiatek, seeded second, has dropped just five games in two matches during her first visit to the combined ATP and WTA tour event in Indian Wells (Riverside County). She needed 54 minutes to get by Kudermetova on the first anniversary of her winning the French Open.
Swiatek won 28 of 33 service points, hit 19 winners and made seven unforced errors.
“I was just feeling pretty confident,” she said. “But basically, I wanted to make a gift for my psychologist because usually when I lose, there is some drama, so let’s just say she has the day off today.”
Two-time major champion Murray beat 18-year-old Carlos Alcarez 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round for the first time since 2016. The 34-year-old Scotsman got into the tournament as a wild card. Alcarez hit 36 winners to 18 for Murray.
“I felt like in the second set, he played maybe better,” Murray said. “First set, I felt like I had more of the opportunities but didn’t get it, so yeah, happy with the way I fought. He’s a top-drawer young player.”
Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat 11th-seeded and 2015 winner Simona Halep 7-5, 6-4. Also advancing was No. 4 Elina Svitolina, who beat 32nd-seeded Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-4 7-6 (3). Americans Shelby Rogers and Jessica Pegula advanced to the round of 16 in straight sets.
On the men’s side, No. 5 seed Matteo Berrettini beat Alejandro Tabilbo 6-5, 7-5 in his opening match. He’ll next face 31st-seeded Taylor Fritz, who beat Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-4 in an all-American match.
No. 7 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada lost to Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-2.
No. 10 Jannik Sinner, who won the title in Sofia last week, beat John Millman 6-2, 6-2. No. 14 Gaels Monfils defeated Gianluca Mager 6-4, 6-2. Kevin Anderson edged 17th-seeded Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3). NHL: The New York Rangers and top center Mika Zibanejad agreed to an eight-year contract worth $68 million. The 28-yearold Swede had 24 goals and 26 assists in 50 games last season. He has 283 points in 323 regular-season games since the Rangers acquired him from Ottawa in 2016.
Running: Seifu Tura Abdiwak of Ethiopia and Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya won in the return of the Chicago Marathon, which was scrapped last year amid the pandemic.
Abdiwak, who placed sixth in the Chicago race in 2019, finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 12 seconds. Chepngetich took the women’s race, finishing in 2:22:31. Americans Galen Rupp and Emma Bates were second.