Sebastián Báez sang 10: he won on his debut at the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, where Djokovic returned and celebrated

Sebastiano Baez, the best Argentine racket of the moment, continues to rise. This Saturday he beat the Italian Fabio Fognini in straight sets in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 to claim his tenth consecutive victory on the ATP professional circuit in an exceptional start to the season.

Báez, number 19 in the ATP, beat the veteran Fognini (108th) 7-5 and 6-3 in California.

The 23-year-old born in San Martín will meet the local idol again in the next phase Taylor Fritzwho on Saturday got rid of the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.

The Californian, champion of the event in 2022, eliminated Báez in the last edition in a third round match.

Exempt from playing the first round as the top seed this year, Báez was very solid in his Indian Wells desert debut.

The Buenos Aires native conceded just one break and took advantage of the concessions given to him by Fognini, 36, who committed up to six double faults in the first set.

The Argentine has started the year strongly, with titles in Santiago and Rio de Janeiro, both on clay, and now has six trophies in his career.

Albiceleste tennis has two other representatives in the third round of Indian Wells: Francisco Cerúndolowho will clash with the American Ben Shelton, and Nadia Podoroskawho will do it against the Russian Anastasiya Potápova.

Djokovic should have worked harder than necessary

Novak Djokovic This Saturday he overcame a tough test on his debut at Indian Wells, where he hadn’t competed since 2019.

That’s why he was greeted with a huge ovation from around 10,000 fans, where he hasn’t been able to go in recent years due to his anti-vaccine stance.

The world number one, exempted from the first round, made his debut against Alexander VukicAustralian tennis player of Balkan origins.

Djokovic, who had not competed since January’s defeat in the semifinals of the Australian Open, needed three sets to overcome Vukic, the ATP’s number 69, with scores of 6-2, 5-7 and 6-3 after two hours and 12 minutes of gameplay.

“It’s my first match since the Australian Open, so I was nervous at first”“Nole” acknowledged. “I played well in the first set, he had his moment in the second and I’m happy with how I finished the match.”

The Serbian giant has thus reached 400 victories in his entire career in Masters 1000 tournaments, the second highest category after the Slams.

Only Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who withdrew at the last minute in the Californian desert, has won more Masters 1000 matches (406), but Djokovic holds the record for titles with 40.

The rival of ‘Nole’, five times winner at Indian Wells, in the third round will be the young Italian Luca Nardi, number 123 in the world ranking.

In the rest of the day, Spain was left without one of its greatest hopes as Alejandro Davidovich fell to French prospect Arthur Fils 6-3 and 6-4.

One of the candidates for victory, the Danish Holger Rune, seventh seed, had advanced in the morning due to the abandonment of the Canadian Milos Raonic due to physical problems.

Results of the day

Second round

Novak Djokovic (SRB/No.1) defeated Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3

Luca Nardi (ITA) beats Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Ugo Humbert (FRA/N.14) beats Patrick Kypson (USA) 6-4, 6-4

Arthur Fils (FRA) defeats Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP/N.23) 6-3, 6-4

Cameron Norrie (GBR/N.28) beats Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 6-4, 6-4

Sebastian Korda (USA/N.29) beats Roman Safiullin (RUS) 6-4, 6-2

Adrian Mannarino (FRA/N.21) beats Tomás Machac (CZE) 6-1, 6-2

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL/No.13) defeats Alexandre Muller (FRA) 7-5, 6-2

Taylor Fritz (USA/No.12) defeats Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) 7-6 (7/2), 6-2

Sebastián Báez (ARG/N.19) beats Fabio Fognini (ITA) 7-5, 6-3

Lorenzo Musetti (ITA/N.26) beats Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5

Holger Rune (DEN/N.7) did not show up to Milos Raonic (CAN).