Delbonis Shocks Murray To Advance in Indian Wells
Argentina’s Federico Delbonis booked his spot in the BNP Paribas Open fourth-round in Indian Wells, hanging on to upset second-ranked Andy Murray 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3) on Monday afternoon.
After the two traded sets, Murray seemed to be on his way to a victory as he opened up a 4-1 advantage in the deciding third set. The Argentine then fought back to bring things to 4-4, and after each held serve, the two would exchange breaks in the 11th and 12th games to force the match into a tiebreaker.
Even then, it was Murray who got out to the lead, opening up a 3-2 cushion in the tiebreaker. But from there, Delbonis won five straight points to close out Murray, sealing the deal on a Murray forehand that drifted wide.
“With the crowd, it’s a little bit more pressure, but I’m enjoying that kind of match. It’s like a challenge every time, and I’m happy to get it,” said Delbonis. “I felt good on the surface because it’s not too fast. I can slice on that kind of court. I like it. I like to play on that kind of court, on hard courts that are not so fast. For me it’s a good court to be aggressive.”
Delbonis will try and maintain that aggressiveness in a fourth-round matchup with 13th seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils who took out Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-3.
Third-seed Stan Wawrinka booked his spot in the fourth-round with a 6-4, 7-6(5) triumph over Andrey Kuznetsov. The two-time Grand Slam champion from Switzerland will next take on 15th seed David Goffin. The Belgian came back from a set down to beat Guido Pella 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Sixth-seed Tomas Berdych, eighth-seed Richard Gasquet, 10th seed Marin Cilic and 12th seed Milos Raonic rounded out Monday’s winners.
