Victoria Mboko from Canada has advanced to the third round of the Indian Wells tournament. The 19-year-old player, hailing from Toronto, secured a victory over Kimberly Birrell from Australia with a scoreline of 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the second-round women’s singles match held in Indian Wells, California.
Mboko showcased a strong performance with seven aces and five double faults, breaking her opponent five times out of seven opportunities. The 10th-seeded Mboko won an impressive 69% of first-serve points during the match.
On the other side, Birrell managed two aces, four double faults, and converted four out of seven breakpoint chances. However, she struggled with a 54% first-serve points won ratio.
In a surprising turn of events, Mboko teamed up with Mirra Andreeva from Russia to defeat the fourth-seeded women’s doubles team of Elise Mertens (Belgium) and Zhang Shuai (China) with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 in the opening round.
In a separate match, Felix Auger-Aliassime, representing Montreal, triumphed over Gael Monfils from France with a score of 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 after a competitive two hours and 17-minute battle. The ninth-seeded Canadian is set to face the winner of the match between 17th-seeded Andrey Rublev (Russia) and Gabriel Diallo (Montreal).
Auger-Aliassime’s performance was highlighted by 14 aces, four double faults, 34 winners, and 29 unforced errors. Monfils managed 12 aces, five double faults, 31 winners, and 21 unforced errors but failed to capitalize on break point opportunities.
Denis Shapovalov, representing Richmond Hill, Ont., emerged victorious against Tomas Martin Etcheverry from Argentina in a challenging match that lasted two hours and 39 minutes. Shapovalov will now face the second-seeded Jannik Sinner from Italy in the men’s singles round of 32.
Shapovalov’s stats included 14 aces, nine double faults, 43 winners, 49 unforced errors, one break point win, and 40 points won while receiving. Etcheverry managed four aces, no double faults, 14 winners, 25 unforced errors, and did not secure any tiebreak wins, only winning 38 points while receiving.
