Bad day for No. 1s: Djokovic, Osaka upset at Indian Wells
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E-mail Xinhua, March 13, 2019
It's a tough day for top seeds at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, with both Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka crashing out of the tournament on Tuesday.
Djokovic led German Philipp Kohlschreiber 1-0 before the game was suspended due to heavy rain on Monday. But the five-time defending champion was clearly not at his best when the match resumed today, suffering a straight-sets defeat (6-4, 6-4) to leave the tournament in the third round.
It is the first time 35-year-old Kohlschreiber has stunned a world number one player and his waving fists showed his excitement after the victory.
"It's a very special win today," Kohlschreiber said. "I had a great strategy to play against him. I had two good wins [entering] the match. So everything came together.
"Unfortunately the tournament is not over. I have to get back tomorrow with a great mindset. Today I want to take the moment, celebrate with my coach. I've got a lot of messages. I know it's a very special victory today," he said.
Naomi Osaka, top seed of the women's singles, also suffered an unexpected defeat, falling to Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-1 in the fourth round.
It is the second loss of the Japanese world number one after she lifted the Australian Open trophy and the 11th consecutive win for 22-year-old Bencic, who came to Indian Wells with a Dubai Tennis Championships title.
"I really wasn't focusing so much on her. I was focusing on my game. I'm very confident with my game right now. I'm hitting the ball well. So just things worked out for me," Bencic said. "I played I think a great match. I'm really happy with myself."
Second seed Simona Halep joined the top seeds crashing out after losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to unseeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in one hour and 40 minutes. China's Wang Qiang failed to make it into the quarterfinals at the hands of Canada's Bianaca Andreescu 7-5, 6-2.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer survived the surprising day with easy victories over Diego Schwartzman and Stan Warinka whereas Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic fell in the third round. Enditem
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