Alison Riske produced a breathtaking comeback to beat Garbine Muguruza at the Indian Wells Open, turning around an apparent lost cause after losing the first nine games of the match.
Muguruza, who won the WTA Finals title at the end of last season, was cruising at 6-0 3-0, but 31-year-old American Riske, despite tossing her racket in frustration, refused to give up. Incredibly, she won 12 of the next 13 games to reach the third round at the expense of the world number nine.
"After the first set, it literally could not get any worse," Riske said in her on-court interview following a 0-6 6-3 6-1 success.
"So if I could try to get two balls in the court we might get somewhere. I was just trying to hang in there. I've played Garbine many times before and it's always been a battle."
This was Riske's fifth match against Spanish star Muguruza, and despite losing the first two of those, she had since beaten the two-time grand slam winner twice, albeit most recently at the 2019 US Open.
"I felt if I could get in there a little bit, I was going to have my chances," Riske said. "I know I've beaten her before, and if I could just bring out some of my game, good things were going to happen."
It was world number 53 Riske's 10th career victory against a player ranked in the top 10.
British player Harriet Dart pulled off a shock win over Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, as the world number 122 snatched a 2-6 6-3 6-3 victory over the 12th seed.
Three of the biggest names in the draw took the long route through to the last-32 stage, with Emma Raducanu, Simona Halep and Iga Swiatek taken to a deciding set in their opening matches, having benefited from first-round byes
Raducanu fended off Caroline Garcia 6-1 3-6 6-1, while Halep was a 6-2 4-6 6-2 winner against Ekaterina Alexandrova, the Russian who is playing under a neutral flag.
Polish third seed Swiatek put a slow start behind her to beat Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina 5-7 6-0 6-1 and is looking to build on her recent Qatar Open triumph. She said: "I'm pretty happy I could turn my head on to fight mode and stay focused, because that was the key I guess."
Last year's Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova bowed out, the Czech seventh seed losing 2-6 7-5 6-4 to Danka Kovinic of Montenegro.
Nadal unsure of future involvements after Laver Cup withdrawal
Rafael Nadal says he cannot commit himself to future tournaments after his withdrawal from the Laver Cup.
Nadal shared news on Thursday that he would not make an appearance at the annual event in Berlin, stating that it would not be in the best interests of Team Europe if he were to participate.
The Spaniard was last in action playing doubles at the Paris Olympics with Carlos Alcaraz, and while he says he is in a good space mentally, he was not able to confirm when he would next make a professional appearance on a tennis court.
He said: "Mentally, I’m good, no problems. I'm at home enjoying other things, training as much as I can every day.
"No drama, obviously these are decisions [the Laver Cup withdrawal] that are being made, and this was a possibility - it's been a while without competing. There will be someone else who can do better.
"Right now I’m not in a position to put myself down for anything.
"I said [I would play] until the Olympics and then we would see, and I'm in that period of rest."
Nadal has endured a difficult 2024 so far, playing just 21 competitive singles matches with a record of 13-8.
He has only one grand slam victory to his name this year, beating Jack Draper in the Australian Open, but he lost in the first round of the French Open to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz sends Spain into Davis Cup last eight
Carlos Alcaraz has led Spain to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup Finals after a straight-sets win over Ugo Humbert.
The 21-year-old needed just one hour and 21 minutes to cruise through with a 6-3 6-3 victory, hitting 21 winners to his opponent's 14 as he backed up Roberto Bautista's win earlier on.
Bautista had to come from behind to edge past Arthur Fils, beating him 2-6 7-5 6-3, and converting 40% of his break points, bettering the Frenchman's 27%.
Spain are through in Group B, but elsewhere in Group D, US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper's return was unable to inspire Great Britain to victory.
Dan Evans was beaten by Tomas Martin Etcheverry earlier on Friday before Draper's first match since New York ended in a straight-sets 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 defeat to Francisco Cerundolo.
Despite making fewer unforced errors than the Argentinian (23 to 39), the British number one struggled to find an edge, though Evans and Neal Skupski claimed a consolation win in the doubles to make it 2-1.
They sit second in the group, missing the chance to qualify for the last eight, and now needing a win against Canada, who have been in fine form so far.
Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov sweep aside Finland at Davis Cup
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov moved Canada to the brink of qualification in the Davis Cup Finals group stage, comfortably dispatching Finland in Manchester.
Shapovalov needed just an hour and 13 minutes to beat Eero Vasa 7-6 (7-2) 6-2, backing up his win against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday.
The Canadian served five aces to his opponents' three, producing three love games in the final set to get his nation off to a flying start.
Auger-Aliassime followed up Shapovalov's victory with another straight sets win, this time over Otto Virtanen, emerging a 6-2 6-3 victor.
The world number 21 was dominant on serve throughout his 73-minute triumph, saving all three break points he faced and winning 86% of his first-serve points.
Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov then prevailed in the doubles against Harri Heliovaara and Virtanen in another straight sets win, putting them top of Group D without dropping a set against their opponents.
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