Great Britain's impressive start to the Indian Wells Masters in California continued on Friday as Katie Boulter and Cameron Norrie both advanced to the third round with gritty three-set successes.
National number one Boulter - who skipped the first round on account of her 25th seeding - completed a mesmerising comeback over Irina-Camelia Begu to triumph 6-7[2] 6-3 6-0 over the Romanian.
Not long after, Norrie followed up his dominant first-round win over Luca Nardi with a statement victory over 23rd seed Jiri Lehecka, conquering the Czech player 3-6 6-4 7-5 for one of his standout wins of 2025 so far.
Boulter was taking to the court for the first time since the Australian Open, where her first major of the year was cut short in the second round by Veronika Kudermetova, and the signs of rustiness were evident early doors.
Begu - who used a protected ranking to enter Indian Wells - held her nerve in a first-set tie-breaker, but losing the opener was the kick that Boulter needed to rediscover her ruthless ways as she completed a terrific fightback with a bagel.
The British number one survived serving nine double faults as she saved nine of the 11 break points that she faced, and her reward will be a daunting third-round affair with seventh seed Elena Rybakina, who memorably thrashed her 6-1 6-1 in the third round of Wimbledon two seasons ago.
Norrie sinks Lehecka as Zverev makes unwanted history
© Imago
On the men's side, Norrie continued his blistering start to Indian Wells as he also came from behind to take down 23rd seed Lehecka, despite missing three match points in an unmissable third set.
Lehecka held for 5-5 in the decider after coming back from 15-40 behind and saving another match point, but the Czech player then wasted three chances of his own to break Norrie for a 6-5 lead, and such profligacy proved fatal.
On Norrie's first match point on the Lehecka serve, the 29-year-old sealed the deal to continue his hot streak at Indian Wells, where he reached the quarter-finals in 2022 and 2023 after taking home the title in 2021.
The former British number one will now vie for a place in the fourth round with American 10th seed Tommy Paul, whom he most recently overcame at Wimbledon 2022 en route to the semi-finals, and the winner of that contest will meet Daniil Medvedev.
However, a slice of unwanted history was set by top seed Alexander Zverev, who was shocked 6-4 6-7[5] 6-7[4] by the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in his second-round showdown.
The German is now the first top seed to lose their opening Indian Wells match after winning the first set since the tournament was established in 1976, but he was not the only notable name to fall on Friday, as fourth seed Casper Ruud was beaten 6-7 6-3 2-6 by Marcos Giron of the USA.
Ben Knapton
