Alexander Zverev, top seed at Indian Wells, loses opening match to Tallon Griekspoor

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—No one beats Tallon Griekspoor six times in a row.

Amid the stunning scenery of the Coachella Valley, the 43^rd-ranked Dutchman stunned Alexander Zverev—the BNP Paribas Open’s No. 1 seed—4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4).

Griekspoor had lost his previous five contests against Zverev, including four times just last year. One of those losses, at Roland Garros, happened despite leading by a double break in the fifth set.

He had also failed to defeat a Top 5 player in 18 attempts. (The 28-year-old did, however, upset world No. 6 Daniil Medvedev in Dubai—saving four match points in the process.)

Those Griek streaks are over.

The significance of the victory wasn’t lost on Griekspoor.

“I had heartbreak at Roland Garros,” he said, with palpable relief, on the court. “I lost to him five times last year, all of them were close, all of them I had chances, so it took some time to get this one over the line.

“It was such a mental thing to beat him.”

After splitting sets, Zverev trailed by a early break in the third. Recovering and then steadily holding to 5-5, Zverev faced 30-30 after missing with his normally trusty backhand. Griekspoor then drew Zverev in with a drop shot, leaving the world No. 2 in no man’s land—and leading to a winner by the underdog. But in a sign of things to come, Zverev calmly saved the break point.

Yet in another bit of foreshadowing, Griekspoor continued his aggression—in contrast to a more conservative Zverev. Griekspoor broke serve four points later to lead 6-5.

Asked by TENNIS.com if he thought Griekspoor brought something different to the court in this particular meeting, Zverev put more of the eventual result on his inability to raise his level.

“I always struggle against him, he’s a complicated player for me, for sure,” said Zverev. “Even though I [have] won, a lot of them are tight matches.

“He played a good match, there’s no question about it, but I have to look at myself a little bit. It’s nowhere near where I want to be.”

Griekspoor’s penchant for offense looked like it would pay off in the next game—but he came up empty on all five match points he earned. To a deciding-set tiebreak they went, and past the three-hour mark. They reached 3-3.

At 4-4, a Zverev forehand error gave Griekspoor another chance at redemption. Then, Griekspoor gave himself two more match points when his serve went unreturned. He only needed one, as the Stadium 1 crowd came to its feet after three hours and seven minutes of play.

Griekspoor, who will face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the third round, has now eliminated the top seed in his past two tournaments.

I’m just playing terrible. Alexander Zverev

It remains to be seen whether Zverev, who leads world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz by 625 points in the ATP rankings, will be the top seed in Miami.

Asked if had been thinking about possibly becoming No. 1 in Jannik Sinner’s absence, Zverev admitted “it was in the beginning,” but now “it’s less, because I’m just playing terrible.”

Since losing the Australian Open final, Zverev has played four tournaments, but hasn’t won more than two matches at any of them. He’s lost three of four overall, to world No. 86 Francisco Comesana (Rio de Janeiro), No. 83 Learner Tien (Acapulco) and, now, No. 43 Griekspoor.

“For me, I have to find my game before thinking about that,” said Zverev, “because to become world No. 1, you have to win tournaments. And I’m not getting past first, second round at the moment.”