Canada's Vasek Pospisil. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI |
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Vasek Pospisil stunned World No. 1 Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., on Saturday.
The qualifier took a 6-2 lead in the second-set tiebreak and watched the top-seeded Scot keep the match alive for three points before the 135th-ranked Canadian unleashed a forehand winner to complete the upset.
"If I pick a handful of great moments in my career, this is definitely one of them," Pospisil said. "To beat the No. 1 player and somebody as accomplished as Andy, one of the greats of the game, is amazing."
Pospisil trailed 4-2 in the first set before winning six staight games.
"Of course some thoughts come in, especially in the second set,'' Pospisil said. "It's not every day you're close to beating the No. 1 player in the world. I did well to stick with the process and not really get distracted by Andy being a bit off today."
Murray was highly disappointed to be sent packing so early in the tournament.
"I don't know exactly why it is, because in practice here normally I play pretty well," Murray told reporters. "And then some years I played well. Some years it just hasn't quite happened for me. I don't know exactly why that is."
In another second-round upset, Italy's Fabio Fognini stunned seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4.
Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland didn't have much trouble as he registered a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Italy's Paolo Lorenzi.
"It's my first win since (the) Australian Open," said Wawrinka, "so it's been a long time and it was good to feel good on the court again."
Eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria dispatched France's Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-4, 10th-seeded Gael Monfils of France was a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 winner over Darian King of Barbados, and 11th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium outlasted Russia's Karen Khachanov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, the No. 13 seed, was a 7-6 (4), 6-4 winner over American Bjorn Fratangelo, while 16th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain notched a 7-5, 6-2 victory over France's Adrian Mannarino.
American John Isner, seeded 20th, defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6, 7-6.