Indian Wells, United States, 7 March 2024 | Matt Trollope

Christopher O’Connell has enjoyed an impressive Indian Wells main-draw debut, recovering from a set down to defeat in-form Brit Jack Draper.

O’Connell’s 1-6 6-3 6-2 triumph sets up a second-round clash with No.6 seed Alexander Zverev at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

Another Aussie advancing was Thanasi Kokkinakis, who beat local Marcos Giron to book a clash with reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner.

Kokkinakis will look to inflict the season’s first defeat on Sinner, who has built an unblemished 12-0 record so far in 2024.

O’Connell, who fell in the qualifying rounds at Indian Wells in the past two years, won six consecutive games from 0-2 in the third set to defeat Draper, who was coming into the tournament following a semifinal run in Acapulco.

Similar to O’Connell, Kokkinakis overcame an opponent who was enjoying a strong recent run of form; in February Giron reached the Dallas final and Delray Beach semifinals.

Sinner has won all three of his career meetings with Kokkinakis, who came incredibly close to beating the Italian in their first match in Cincinnati in 2022.

> VIEW: Indian Wells 2024 men’s singles draw

> VIEW: Indian Wells 2024 women’s singles draw

In women’s singles action, Daria Saville fell in a first-round marathon to Bernarda Pera.

The former world No.20 battled for more than three hours before going down 7-5 4-6 7-6(5).

Rain prevented Jordan Thompson from taking to the court against qualifier Shang Juncheng, while another Aussie, Alexei Popyrin, was sadly forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.

Aussies in action – Indian Wells

RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) d Marcos Giron (USA) 6-3 7-5
Christopher O’Connell (AUS) d Jack Draper (GBR) 1-6 6-3 6-2

Women’s singles, first round
[Q] Bernarda Pera (USA) d Daria Saville (AUS) 7-5 4-6 7-6(5)

COMING UP
Men’s singles, first round
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [Q] Shang Juncheng (CHN)
Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v Qualifier
Max Purcell (AUS) v Gael Monfils (FRA)

Men’s singles, second round
[10] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Taro Daniel (JPN)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v [3] Jannik Sinner (ITA)
Christopher O’Connell (AUS) v [6] Alexander Zverev (GER)

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