INDIAN WELLS: Britons Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu both showed remarkable heart to come out on the winning side of tough first round matches at Indian Wells on Thursday.

Murray fired an ace out wide on match point to overcome Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-4 in the latest in a string of impressive comebacks for the ageless Scot, who has resurrected his career after hip resurfacing surgery.

Murray, owner of three Grand Slam titles and two Olympic gold medals, improved to 7-0 in decisive sets this year and booked a meeting with 15th-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.

Britain’s 2021 US Open champion Raducanu rallied from a break down in each set to beat Danka Kovinic 6-2, 6-3, avenging a 2022 Australian Open second-round loss to the Montenegrin as she continued her fightback from various ailments that have slowed her 2023 campaign.

Raducanu had shut down her 2022 season early with wrist trouble and hurt her ankle in her second match of 2023 in Auckland.

She pulled out of the WTA event in Austin last week with tonsillitis and withdrew from a pre-tournament exhibition here when her wrist trouble flared up.

In the second round, Raducanu will face Poland’s Magda Linette.

Switzerland’s three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, with two knee and two foot surgeries behind him and now ranked 100th in the world, made a winning return to the event after a four-year absence, defeating Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukcic 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis, ranked 94th in the world, booked a second-round clash with top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over US wild card Brandon Holt.

But it was end of the road for Dominic Thiem, who squandered several chances to get past French veteran Adrian Mannarino before crashing to a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) defeat.

American Ben Shelton defeated Italian veteran Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-1 to set up a meeting with fourth-seeded defending champion Taylor Fritz.

On the women’s side, Sofia Kenin beat Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-1 in a battle between former Grand Slam champions. She joined fellow American Madison Brengle and Czechs Marketa Vondrou­sova and Karolina Much­ova in the second round.

Dalma Galfi, who lost in the final round of the qualifying event but was a late replacement for Tamara Korpatsch, stu­nned former Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-4, while American Claire Liu beat Anna Karolina Schmi­edlova 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to earn a shot at top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2023