Berrettini Seals Win Then Collapses in Indian Wells Heat
Matteo Berrettini gutted out a three-set thriller against Adrian Mannarino at the BNP Paribas Open, only for cramps to drop him right after the final point—a dramatic reminder of the body’s limits in the desert.
Under the glaring sun of Indian Wells, Matteo Berrettini turned desperation into defiance on Wednesday, clinching a first-round victory at the BNP Paribas Open that ended with him sprawled on the court. The Italian, fresh off a virus that kept him bedridden until days ago, absorbed Adrian Mannarino’s early pressure before unleashing his signature weapons to flip the script. His 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 triumph over the Frenchman set up a tense second-round clash with fourth seed Alexander Zverev, but not before cramps seized his legs on the victory shot.
Cramps claim the edge after tactical grind
Mannarino jumped ahead, extending his streak to six straight sets won against Berrettini, his flat shots slicing through the medium-paced hard courts. But the 29-year-old Italian countered with backhand slices that skidded low, disrupting rhythm and opening lanes for heavy topspin forehands. In the decider, he held firm, dropping just five points behind his first serve—a grip on the baseline that pulled the crowd into every rally’s swing.
That final crosscourt winner landed clean, but Berrettini crumpled immediately, sitting for five minutes as the ATP supervisor and physio attended him. Smiling through the twinges, he waved to fans who had watched him battle back from a 0-2 head-to-head deficit.
“I fought really hard, until the very last point,” Berrettini said in his on-court interview. “At the beginning of the third [set], I started to feel a little bit of cramping. I was little bit surprised at the beginning but then I remembered that I was sick until three days ago, so I was like, ‘Okay, it’s normal’.”
His one–two pattern—slice to reset, then inside-out blasts—wore down Mannarino‘s defense, turning the Frenchman’s steady returns into hurried errors under the rising heat.
Veterans defy age on demanding courts
Gael Monfils added his flair to the day’s script, becoming the second-oldest match winner in tournament history at 39 years and six months by outlasting Alexis Galarneau 6-3, 6-4. His elastic retrieves and sudden net approaches kept the Canadian pinned, echoing the guile that has defined his career. Only Ivo Karlovic, at 40, had topped that mark when reaching the fourth round in 2019.
Monfils now eyes ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, where his experience might blunt the younger player’s aggressive inside-in forehands on these bouncing surfaces. The matchup promises a blend of vintage showmanship and modern power, with the crowd’s energy amplifying every elastic stretch.
American momentum builds amid upsets
Reilly Opelka powered through an all-American duel against Ethan Quinn, 7-5, 7-6(3), his towering serve exploiting the court’s true bounce to seal the tiebreak. Jenson Brooksby followed with a controlled 6-3, 6-4 over Alexei Popyrin, varying crosscourt backhands to dictate tempo and force the Australian into long rallies. These straight-set wins injected home-crowd buzz into the draw, their familiarity with the hard courts shining through.
Gabriel Diallo grinded past Mattia Bellucci 7-6(5), 6-4, surviving a tight breaker before breaking late to advance. Zizou Bergs rounded out the undercard, handling Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4 by mixing underspin with down-the-line passes that neutralized the German’s heavy groundstrokes. As the second round dawns on March 5, 2026, these battles hint at deeper runs fueled by tactical tweaks and sheer will, with Berrettini’s resilience setting the tone for the desert grind ahead.
