The Chilean beat the 2022 Roland Garros and US Open runner-up 6-4, 7-6(2), managing to enter the top-16 group for the first Masters 1000 of the season.
Christian Garin (97th ATP) signs one of the best games of his career at Indian Wells . He beat Norway’s Casper Ruud (4th) 6-4, 7-6(2) and earned his third win against a top ten finish. By the way, he returns to the round of 16 of a Masters 1000 after almost a year.
The match played by the “Tank” was exceptional. A totally different player in 2022, with a fighting spirit and an aggressive plan, who knows he is living a special moment and must take advantage of it. On the court, he looked much better than the world number four, leading the points and closing rallies on the net or with winning shots. Actually, he finished the first set with 16 winners, ten more than his rival and with just 15 unforced errors, two less than Ruud.
There were 52 minutes of battle that ended with the first set 6-4 in favor of the Chilean. A partial that could even have been left in the hands of Garin in a more comfortable way, but there the five-time winner of the ATP races had moments of doubt and could not close the set with more margin.
It didn’t matter in those times. Garin showed great feelings and was on the verge of breaking a Top 5 for the third time in his career. Daniil Medvedev at Madrid 2021 and Alexander Zverev at Munich 2019 they had already been his victims, when both were three of the world.
But Ruud is not a player who gives you games. If he seemed lost in the first quarter of the second set, the Norwegian, finalist at Roland-Garros and at the US Open in 2022, was able to reverse the dynamic with a break in the sixth game. A change of scenario which brought more drama, taking the round to the tie-break.
There, the northerner came back to take his hand to answer. IHe hit a break mini inning and took the lead with his serve , signing a 3-0 start in the definition. With the advantage, they no longer hesitated and closed the tie-break 7-2, winning 11 of the last 13 points of the match.
The right formula for that? Its excellent game on the net. Bet he made the whole match. The Chilean got in the net 24 times, getting 19 points . Four of them in the tie-break.
It was his big weapon, one he doesn’t usually use, but comes in handy for the aggressive play he shows in the California desert. Now he expects a fourth-round rival. It will be Karen Khachanov or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. At present, the national is already 80 in the world.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
