Osaka sweeps into Indian Wells third round, Gauff survives scare; Pegula exits

INDIAN WELLS — Former World No.1 Naomi Osaka kept up her winning ways at the Paribas Open with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over No.14 seed Liudmila Samsonova in the second round.

Playing the fifth tournament of her return to tour after her 2023 maternity leave, former champion Osaka took 1 hour and 37 minutes to battle past Samsonova in their first meeting on Saturday.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka posted her 34th career win over a Top 20 player — but her first in almost two years. Before Saturday’s victory, Osaka’s last Top 20 win came over Danielle Collins in the 2022 Miami Open quarterfinals, according to WTA tour.

The Japanese improved her Indian Wells win-loss record to 14-3 over her career. Osaka won her first WTA title at the 2018 Paribas Open, defeating Daria Kasatkina in the final to capture the WTA 1000 crown. She would go on to win her second career title later that year, at the US Open.

In other action, Coco Gauff had to pull off an almighty comeback against France’s Clara Burel on Saturday, the No.3 seed trailed 6-2, 2-0 — and 4-0 and 5-2 in the third set — but battled all the way back to a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) win and a spot in the third round.

The American became the first teenager in the last 15 years to collect 50 wins at WTA 1000 events with her victory against Burel.

On the other hand, Jessica Pegula, Gauff’s pal and doubles partner in Indian Wells, saw her own match comeback cut short against Anna Blinkova.

In her second tournament since parting ways with longtime coach David Witt, Pegula fell behind, rallied, but ultimately departed 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 at the hands of the World No. 45 Blinkova.

Among others to advance on Saturday was Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open winner. Raducanu, who has had one injury after another, advanced when opponent Dayana Yastremska retired at 0-4 in the first set due to an injury.

Djokovic survives scare to make winning return to Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS — The World No. 1 and five-time champion Novak Djokovic survived an opening-round scare in his return to Paribas Open, taken the distance by World No. 69 Australian Aleksandar Vukic before eventually grinding out a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory.

Playing for the first time since his loss in the 2024 Australian Open semifinals to Jannik Sinner, Djokovic recorded his 400th Masters 1000 win, and improved to 51-9 lifetime at Indian Wells with his triumph on Saturday night.

“Five years is a very long time for a tennis player. It’s amazing to be a part of this tournament as a player. There’s a great community, culture and love for the sport, and for tennis – you can feel it,” Djokovic told the crowd after his win.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion was out of the blocks quickly in his first appearance in the California desert since 2019, breaking for 1-0, and then solidifying his hold on the set with another break for 5-2. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the 36-year-old legend.

The Aussie rebounded in set two, and he made his opportunity to prolong the match count when he scorched a forehand inside-out return to break Djokovic and claim the second set, 7-5, at the 90-minute mark.

Djokovic put his best serving on repeat and dropped a mere five points on serve across the stanza.

Vukic, sensing the inevitability of the situation, yielded a break in the fifth game, and another in the final game of the contest, Djokovic blew kisses to the raucous crowd, the match done and dusted in two hours and 10 hard-fought minutes.

The Serb will next meet Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi, who defeated China’s Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. It will be the first ATP Head-to-Head meeting between the pair.