(Reuters) – Unseeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic stunned world number six Matteo Berrettini 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4 in the fourth round of Indian Wells on Wednesday to set up a quarter-final meeting with American Taylor Fritz.
Serbian Kecmanovic absorbed his opponent’s power serve in the first set, converting on a break point chance in the fourth game, as a frustrated Berrettini won just eight return points.
But Kecmanovic, 22, was unable to close out the match as a break point opportunity slipped through his fingers late in the second set, in which Berrettini, who reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon last year, struck 21 winners and won a tense tiebreak to level.
Berrettini saved two breaks in the eighth game in a tightly fought final set to stay alive but Kecmanovic pounced to break the Italian’s serve to love in the final game.
He will next play Fritz who outlasted Australian Alex de Minaur 3-6 6-4 7-6(5). A break down in the third, it was the second consecutive match Fritz won in a third-set tiebreaker.
Australian Nick Kyrgios advanced by walkover after Italian Jannik Sinner withdrew from the tournament due to illness.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery and Rory Carroll, editing by Ed Osmond)
