The veteran Andy Murray suffered a straight-set loss against Andrey Rublev in the round of 64 at the Indian Wells Open 2024 on Saturday. The British tennis ace continued his inconsistent results in the 2024 season drawing pressure from media and fans over his long-term future in the sport.
Rublev, the no.5 seed at Indian Wells, needed to give his best to claim the first set by 7-6. Murray, the three-time Grand Slam winner, was leading 5-4 in the first set but missed four set points to lose out. Then the Russian build up an impressive momentum to finish the match by 7-6, 6-1.
In the women's singles event, the defending champion Elena Rybakina withdrew due to illness ahead of her first game against Argentine Nadia Podoroska. The Russian-born Kazakhstani star has been in excellent form with the highest 17 wins in the WTA tour this season winning Brisbane International and Abu Dhabi Open.
"Those close to me know how much this tournament means to me and how much I wanted to come back and defend my title," Rybakina said. "I would like to thank all the fans who came out here to support me and I am sorry they will not get a chance to see me play this year. Now I will rest and recover so I can come out and play and compete for my fans to the best of my abilities once again."
The recently crowned Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner continued his impressive run with a dominant 6-3, 6-0 win against Thanasi Kikkinakis in the round of 16, stretching his winning streak to 16 matches. The Italian youngster remains unbeaten this season with 13 wins and next faced Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff at the Masters 1000 event on Monday.
The world no.1 Iga Swiatek also registered an easy 6-3, 6-0 win against Danielle Collins of the USA to reach the round of 32 on Saturday.
