Denis Shapovalov and Miomir Kecmanovic repeat Djokovic-Murray 2007 feat
The first Masters 1000 tournament of the season at Indian Wells is behind us, with Dominic Thiem beating Roger Federer in three sets to claim the first title at this level. Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Frances Tiafoe, Alex de Minaur and Alexander Zverev didn't have a good campaign although there were enough youngsters to fight against more experienced rivals at the end of the first and in the second week, with three players born in 1997 or later in the fourth round. Hubert Hurkacz advanced into his first Masters 1000 quarter-final where he lost to Roger Federer while two teenagers survived until the fourth round for the first time since 2007 when Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray did that in the desert!
Seeded 12th and 13th, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were already among the favorites at Indian Wells 12 years ago, making nice progress through the draw and ousting David Ferrer and Tommy Haas to enter the last four where Novak took down Andy 6-2, 6-3 in just 63 minutes. Rafael Nadal proved to be too strong versus the Serb in the title match but that was hardly an obstacle for Djokovic who claimed the first Masters 1000 title two weeks later in Miami. At the age of 18, Ryan Harrison won three matches in the desert in 2011, cracking the top-16 where he lost to Roger Federer, repeating the same feat 12 months later just before his 20th birthday.
Thanasi Kokkinakis was another teenager in the fourth round of Indian Wells in 2015, followed by Alexander Zverev who almost defeated Rafael Nadal in the fourth round in 2016. There were no teenagers in the last 16 at Indian Wells in 2017 and 2018, with all that changing in the previous week when the 26th seed Denis Shapovalov and a lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic carried the banner for 1999 generation to repeat what Djokovic and Murray did 12 years ago. The Canadian defeated Steve Johnson in the second round before a mighty impressive triumph over the 10th seed Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-2, saving all four break points in those to matches to book the place in round four where he lost to another young gun Hubert Hurkacz in three sets.
The Belgrade native Miomir Kecmanovic, who works at IMG Academy in Florida, failed to Marcos Giron in the second qualifying round before securing the place in the main draw when Kevin Anderson decided to withdraw. Miomir seized the opportunity with both hands, opening the campaign from the second round and toppling Maximilian Marterer in an hour to find himself in the last 32 where he overpowered the fellow Serb Laslo Djere in straight sets to join the fourth round field. There, Kecmanovic had to play only one set against Yoshihito Nishioka who was forced to retire, sending a teenager into the quarters as the youngest player in the last eight in the desert since Michael Chang in 1991!
A former finalist Milos Raonic halted the Serb with a 6-3, 6-4 win, saving all three break points he faced and stealing Miomir's serve once in every set to advance into the semis. Despite this loss, Kecmanovic did enough to reach the top-100 on Monday, joining Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov as the third teenager in the elite group.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2JnG5Lv
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