Taking the court for the first time as the World No. 1, top seed Daniil Medvedev eased into the third round with a 6-3, 6-2 win over 21-year-old Czech qualifier Tomas MacHac on Saturday.
Medvedev must reach the quarterfinals to prevent Novak Djokovic from reclaiming the No. 1 ranking.
Later, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas came within two points of defeat in a bruising battle with Jack Sock to claw his way into the third round.
Sock, who had crushed 28 forehand winners to be on the cusp of his first Top 10 win since 2017, had the match on his racquet serving at 5/4 in the third-set tie-break.
But as happened in the first-set-tie-break, his lack of recent big-match experience told when the chips were down, and he made two unforced errors to let Tsitsipas back in, the Greek closing out the match 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(5).
Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz, who earlier this year captured the Rio de Janeiro title to become youngest ATP 500 champion in series history (18), notched his first career win at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden via a 6-3, 6-3 dismissal of Mackenzie McDonald.
The teenager capitalized on five of nine break-point opportunities in the one-hour, 35-minute win.
While, Great Britain's Cameron Norrie took his first step toward defending his 2021 title by ousting Spain's Pedro Martinez, 6-3, 6-3.
( With inputs from ANI )
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