Three minutes a day, knowing about tennis in the world. Hello fans, today is Sunday, March 9, 2025, and welcome to the afternoon newsletter brought to you by "Home of Tennis".

Last night and this morning, Beijing time, the Indian Wells Open continued. Men's side: Five-time champion Novak Djokovic was in poor form in a headline match in the second round in the early morning, losing 2-6 6-3 1-6 to world No.85 Van der Shanschup, the lucky loser of the Netherlands, suffering three straight defeats on tour and making his debut at Indian Wells for the first time since 2018.

Throughout the game, Djokovic trailed his opponents in every statistic, with just 16 winning points accompanied by a whopping 37 unforced errors. After the fight, Djokovic said he was struggling with the current situation, "You know, the last couple of years I've obviously been different, I've been trying to get to the level I want, occasionally I'll play a couple of good games, but most of the time it's really a challenge, it's a struggle for me. In a sense, I guess there's nothing that prepares you for that moment. You have to go through it and try to deal with it in the best way possible. ”

Some fans believe that the years are not forgiving, and the decline of Djokovic's competitive form is a natural law, even if he is a GOAT, he is no exception.

The victor Van de Shanchop will face 25th seed and Argentine F. Cerundoro in the third round, who defeated homegrown wildcard McDonald 4-6 7-6(3) 6-1. Seventh seed Rublev of Russia also failed to win, being knocked out 6-4 7-5 by rising Italian star Analdi, who suffered another round trip after Dubai.

No.2 seed and two-time champion Alcaraz came back to beat France's Aris 6-4 6-2 to snap his 13-match winning streak. He will next face 27th seed Shapovalov of Canada, who defeated qualifier Walton 6-3 6-2.

In a youth matchup on the day, the pre-match was abruptly concluded after just 75 minutes, with 13th seed and British No.1 Draper beating recent Brazilian teenager Fonseca 6-4 6-0 to qualify with ease. In the third round, he will face homegrown Brooksby, who knocked out 17th seed Aliassime of Canada 6-4 6-2. Other winners in the second round were American Fritz, rising star Brandon Nakashima, Chilean Tabilo and Polish player Hurkacz.

Women's Field: In the second-round singles matchup, American Keys, the No.5 seed who made her debut since winning the Australian Open, swept past Russia's Potapova 6-3 6-0 to extend her winning streak to 13 matches. Third seed and rising American star Gauff overcame fluctuating form and a whopping 21 double faults to end a recent three-game losing streak with a narrow 6-4 3-6 7-6(4) victory over Japan's Moe Natsu Uchijima.

Lucky loser Qatar swept past 16th seed and Brazil's No. 1 sister Maia 6-2 6-1 to hand her opponent on a five-game losing streak. Russian Polina Kudermetova pulled off a minor upset with a 7-5 6-2 win over compatriot Alexandrova. Italy's Bolini, Croatia's Vekic, America's Collins, Belgium's Mertens, Russia's Kasatkina and Samsonova, and Switzerland's Bencic also defeated their opponents to advance to the third round.

In the second round of the spotlight match yesterday afternoon, eighth seed and China's No. 1 sister Zheng Qinwen avenged Belarusian star Azarenka 6-3 6-4, claiming the first victory in three meetings between the two sides, and also ending a recent three-game singles losing streak. In the third round, she will face Sun Lulu, a Chinese New Zealander who eliminated her at Wimbledon last year, in another revenge battle. This contest will be held at around 12 noon Beijing time tomorrow, Xiao Zheng, come on!

Doubles First Round: No.5 seeds Zhang Shuai/Hsieh Shuwei beat Shuko Aoyama/Eri Hozumi 6-4 6-4 to advance to the round of 16; Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan eliminated Jiang Xinyu/Wu Fangxian 6-4 7-6(7) to make it through the first round.

Finally, let's guess and recognize. The image below shows a player holding a newly painted racket. Can you recognize who he is without prompting?

In the last guess, the golfer gave the correct answer. That's right, the person in the picture is Norway's Ruud.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Maverick)