When it comes to the ATP World Rankings, Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ontario and Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario delivered first round upsets in Indian Wells. On Thursday, Raonic, the 224th ranked player in the world, defeated Sumit Nagal of India, the 101st ranked player in the world, 6-3, 6-3. Then on Friday, Denis Shapovalov, the 131st ranked player in the world, beat Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, the 82nd ranked player in the world, 6-1, 6-4.
Raonic won because of his serve. He had nine aces compared to zero for Nagal. Raonic also broke Nagal three times. Shapovalov’s serve was also working, as he had eight aces compared to three for van de Zandschulp. Shapovalov also broke van de Zandschulp four times.
In the second round, Raonic will face the seventh seed Holger Rune of Denmark on Saturday. This will be their first meeting head-to-head. Shapovalov will face the 26th seed, Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, also in the second round on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec is off to the third round on Sunday. In second round action on Friday, Auger-Aliassime, the 31st seed, beat Constant Lestienne of France 6-4, 6-1. Auger-Aliassime’s next opponent is the second seed, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, the 2022 United States Open champion and 2023 Wimbledon champion. Auger-Aliassime has the 3-1 advantage. Auger-Aliassime’s wins came in the quarterfinals of the 2021 United States Open (6-3, 3-1), the 2022 Davis Cup (6-7, 6-4, 6-2), and the semifinals of the 2022 Swiss Indoor (6-3, 6-2).
