Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis is through to the second round at the BNP Paribas Open, where he’ll face No.1 seed Carlos Alcaraz.
Indian Wells, USA, 10 March 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Thanasi Kokkinakis has powered into the second round at Indian Wells, where he’ll face top-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
The 26-year-old Australian earned his place in the main draw at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament as a qualifier and continued his winning run today in the opening round.
Kokkinakis conceded just two points on serve in a dominant 6-4 6-1 victory against American wildcard Brandon Holt, the son of former world No.1 Tracy Austin.
World No.94 Kokkinakis, who has now won nine of his past 10 matches, sealed an impressive victory in 75 minutes. He finished with 26 winners to Holt’s seven.
He’ll next face world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion. It will be Kokkinakis’ first meeting against the 19-year-old sensation, who last season became the youngest man to ever hold the world No.1 ranking.
Kokkinakis has beaten the top seed before at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, sensationally upsetting then world No.1 Roger Federer in the second round at Miami in March 2018.
In other first-round matches today, three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka was pushed to three sets by Aussie qualifier Aleksandar Vukic. But the Swiss veteran finished strongly to record a 6-4 1-6 6-1 win.
Kimberly Birrell, Rinky Hijikata, Alexei Popyrin and John Peers are all scheduled to play later today.
Aussies in action – Indian Wells
TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
[Q] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) d [Q] Brandon Holt (USA) 6-4 6-1
Stan Wawrinka (SUI) d [Q] Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 6-4 1-6 6-1
COMING UP
Men’s singles, first round
[Q] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) v Mikael Ymer (SWE)
[LL] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v [Q] Zhang Zhizhen (CHN)
Men’s singles, second round
[16] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v TBC
[Q] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v [1] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [2] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
Jason Kubler (AUS) v [21] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
> VIEW: Full Indian Wells men’s singles draw
Women’s singles, first round
[Q] Kimberly Birrell (AUS) v Sorana Cirstea (ROU)
> VIEW: Full Indian Wells women’s singles draw
Men’s doubles, first round
Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/Jason Kubler (AUS) v Austin Krajicek (USA)/Mackenzie McDonald (USA)
John Peers (AUS)/Dan Evans (GBR) v Taylor Fritz (USA)/Tommy Paul (USA)
Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v…
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