Top five shocking results at Indian Wells Open 2024

The Indian Wells Open saw some heavyweights go down to the underdogs.

Along with bee attacks, the 2024 edition of the Indian Wells Open threw up quite a few surprises. The tennis action saw in-form players and top seeds alike exit the 2024 BNP Paribas Open earlier than expected. 

In this article, we will look at five unexpected results that saw seasoned players and returning champions fall to giant slayers in seemingly ‘David vs Goliath’ contests.

5. Emma Navarro vs Aryna Sabalenka

When Emma Navarro strolled out onto the court for her fourth-round match against Aryna Sabalenka, she may not have imagined defeating the World No. 2 as comprehensively as she did. The 22-year-old converted 4/5 (80%) of break-point opportunities while saving 4/6 (66.7%) against the big-serving Belarusian. 

Navarro finished the match with 22 winners and 14 unforced errors, to Sabalenka’s 38 winners and 34 unforced errors. This and the many break-point opportunities lost did the World No. 2 in.

Sabalenka looked out of sorts, serving up four aces and an equal number of double faults to crash out 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 – handing Navarro the biggest win of her career and into her first Indian Wells Open quarterfinals. It was also the first WTA 1000 quarter-final appearance for the American. 

The Charleston native also notched 18 wins in the 2024 season, second only to Iga Swiatek on the Hologic WTA Tour. 

4. Luca Nardi vs Novak Djokovic

On his first trip to California since 2019 and taking a month-long break after the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic came looking to grab a record sixth BNP Paribas Open title. A triumph at Indian Wells Open would mean he would lead the tournament’s all-time title list.Luca Nardi, the lucky loser from Italy, put a premature end to those plans. Facing the 24-time Grand Slam champion for the first time, Nardi showed no sign of nerves handing the World No. 1 a three-set defeat – 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Nardi entered the main draw as a lucky loser when Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry pulled out of the draw. The World No.123 became the lowest-ranked player in history to defeat Djokovic at a Grand Slam or a Masters 1000 event.

3. Katie Volynets vs Ons Jabeur

American Katie Volynets, with a ranking of World No.131, bagged the biggest win of her career. Volynets, a wildcard entry at Indian Wells Open, made good use of it by ousting No.6 Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open. 

Having defeated Mirra Andreeva in the first round, the 22-year-old American’s win over Jabeur is her second top-10 win of her career. The other being over Veronika Kudermetova at the 2023 Australian Open.  

Jabeur opened up with a 4-2 lead in the opening set but was unable to capitalise on her strong start to register a consecutive second-round exit after losing to Lesia Tsurenko in Qatar.

The Tunisian has not had an easy time of late. She lost convincingly to Russian teen Mirra Andreeva in the 2nd round of the Australian Open, winning just two games. A quarter-final exit at Abu Dhabi was what followed next.

2. Maria Sakkari vs Coco Gauff

World No. 9 and much improved Maria Sakkari took down World No. 3 Coco Gauff  6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2, in the  BNP Paribas Open semifinals on Friday night. The match between Gauff and Sakkari was also their eighth meeting. 

The Greek star continued her resurgent fortnight and domination over the 2023 US Champion to extend her head-to-head against Gauff to 5-3. With this victory, Sakkari’s five-match losing streak to top 10 players came to a halt. It has also fetched her the first top-three win since the 2022 WTA finals.

Sakkari has also notched five victories on the trot for the first time since winning the WTA 500 Guadalajara Open last September.

She did not let the two rain delays affect her and ended up playing better on the key points. Sakkari converted six of the 12 break-point chances on offer, while Gauff made use of only three of the 14 chances she got. 

1. Jiri Lehecka vs Andrey Rublev

Jiri Lehecka’s defeat of Andrey Rublev has left the Russian without a title since he won in Hong Kong over two months ago. The big-hitting Czech powered past fifth seed Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4, in 73 minutes to reach the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Playing in their fourth ATP level meeting, Lehecka evened out the pair’s head-to-head record at 2-2. The Czech hit 31 winners compared to just eight by Rublev. Lehecka won a massive 93 per cent of first-serve points in the third-round match against the Russian. He also approached the net with confidence, winning eight of 10 net points. 

Lehecka went on to score another upset win at the Indian Wells Open against World No.11 Stefanos Tsitsipas, again in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.

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