Australia Jordan Thompson upset second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 4-6 7-6 in a three-set thriller in the second round at the Indian Wells Masters on Friday. The match lasted for almost three hours, with the 28-year-old Australian registered one of the most memorable victories of his career to date. It was a disappointing day for the 24-year-old Tsitsipas, who had a great chance to go deep in the tournament, who lost early for the second successive tournament. But what were the keys to Thompson’s win.
Both players rush the net:
Both Jordan Thompson and Stefanos Tsitsipas came forward throughout the match. Tsitsipas looked to dictate wit his formidable forehand, whilst Thompson looked to cover the relative weakness of his drive backhand by using slices and following them into the net. And it was Thompson who had more success in the forecourt.
Tsitsipas regularly found himself on the receiving end of clinical passes from the Australian’s racket, including in the first-set tiebreak, which Thompson won without losing a point.
Tsitsipas proved over-reliant on his forehand
Tsitsipas tried to dominate Thompson from the baseline by brining his forehand into play early in the rally, but ended up comitting too many unforced errors. He used it to good effect in the second set, which he won courtesy of a break of serve, but his radar was off in the decider.
There was little to split the pair in the third set, which went to a decider, but at the crucial moment Tsitsipas’ forehand let him down. He struck an inside-out forehand wide into the tramlines to hand the Australian what was one of the best victories of his career to date.
It was a very close contest and probably the match of the tournament so far, with Thompson ultimately emerging as the deserved winner. The Australian, ranked 87th in the world, will next face Alejandro Tabilo in what, at least on paper, looks like winnable match.
Main photo credit: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK
