Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka made a successful return to the BNP Paribas Open after four years away, beating qualifier Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 on Thursday.
Wawrinka, a 37-year-old who rose to No. 3 and is now No. 100 after a series of operations on his left foot and left knee, hit 10 aces and won 28 of 33 first-serve points. His previous match at the California desert hard-court tournament was a loss to Swiss Davis Cup teammate Roger Federer in the third round in 2019.
Wawrinka, the runner-up to Federer at Indian Wells in 2017, will face No. 26 seed Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round of the season’s first Masters 1000.
Two other major title holders who have dealt with injury problems in recent years, Andy Murray and Dominic Thiem, were scheduled for first-round action later on Day 2.
Emma Raducanu, who won the 2021 US Open as a teen qualifier, returned to court on Thursday for the first time since January after coming down with tonsillitis, trailing 2-0 in each set during what would become a 6-2, 6-3. victory over Danka Kovinic.
Another 20-year-old, Ben Shelton, trailed 2-0 early against Fabio Fognini before taking 12 of the last 15 games to win 6-4, 6-1. Shelton, the 2022 NCAA singles champion at the University of Florida who hadn’t won a match since reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals, will face fourth seed and defending champion Taylor Fitz next.
Fognini was warned for audible obscenity and for taking too long to prepare to return serves; he also hit a racket during the match, but the chair umpire did not cite him for that.
Thanasi Kokkinakis claimed 32 of the 34 points he served up in a 6-4, 6-1 victory over wild card Brandon Holt to earn a showdown Saturday against reigning US Open champion and No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz.
Andy Murray returns a shot to Tomas Martin Etcheverry during their match at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday.
(Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)
Danielle Collins, the 2022 Australian Open runner-up, lost a second straight match against an opponent ranked outside the top 50, knocked out 6-4, 6-4 by world number 80 Dalma Galfi. Galif had lost in qualifying, but she moved into the main draw when someone withdrew. Collins delivered just nine game winners and made 41 unforced errors.
Varvara Gracheva, who qualified for Indian Wells after reaching the final in Austin, Texas, last week, defeated Ysaline Bonaventure 6-2, 6-2; Katerina Siniakova defeated Jule Niemeier 7-5, 6-4; and Jil Teichmann defeated Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-4.
In other results, Jack Draper overwhelmed ranked Leandro Riedi 6-1, 6-1 to set up an all-British showdown against No. 24 Dan Evans; and Mackenzie McDonald defeated Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-0.
