Indian Wells: Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie make third-round exits in California

British involvement in the singles draw is now over after victories for Aryna Sabalenka and Gael Monfils
Spirited defeat: Emma Raducanu battled hard against Aryna Sabalenka
USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
George Flood12 March 2024

Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie have both been ousted from Indian Wells after respective third-round losses on Tuesday.

Raducanu was defeated in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 despite a spirited display against world No2 Aryna Sabalenka, while British men’s No1 Norrie - who won tennis’ unofficial fifth major back in 2021 - blew a set and 3-0 lead as he was eliminated by French veteran Gael Monfils 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 in a thrilling contest that lasted for more than three hours.

Those losses mean there are no British singles players left in action at Indian Wells this year, with Andy Murray having lost in straight sets to men’s fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the second round on Friday.

British women’s No1 Katie Boulter, Jack Draper and Dan Evans were all eliminated in the first round in California, meanwhile.

Raducanu pushed Belarusian Sabalenka to the limit, battling back from a break down to level at 5-5 in the second set before ultimately falling.

Despite her loss, the 21-year-old will take confidence from the way she consistently pressured her opponent before Sabalenka finally claimed victory on her fourth match point.

Raducanu had booked her third-round berth after winning back-to-back matches for the first time since her run to the last 16 of the same tournament last year.

Norrie, meanwhile, led by a set and 3-0 before falling victim to a stirring comeback from the 37-year-old Monfils, who revelled in the support of the majority of the crowd.

Monfils clawed back to level in an extraordinary second set tie-break in which he won a point with an underarm serve before clinching the set at the end of a stunning 31-stroke rally.

Monfils said in an on-court interview: "I've been working hard. Cam was playing very good tactically. He was better than me at the beginning.

"I had to change and think about it. I had to improve a couple things in my game to give him trouble and at the end I was happy that physically I could stay with him."

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in