Coco Gauff retires against Alexandra Eala at Indian Wells after left arm felt "like a firework was going off"

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—When Jannik Sinner stopped by for a chat with Prakash Amritraj following his third-round win over Denis Shapovalov Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open, the Tennis Channel host and commentator fired a warning shot to the world No. 2.

“If you lose Reilly’s serve when he’s serving, I’m going to give you a lot of grief,” said Amritraj—regarding the Italian’s impending doubles encounter with Reilly Opelka.

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Sinner will need to be prepared for just that in his next TC appearance, after his netted volley cemented Opelka dropping his second service game Monday.

To the four-time major winner’s defense, he owned up in advance that, “If he will drop serve in doubles, it's my fault. Bad hands at the net.”

The Italian-American pair drew top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Sinner beamed from start to finish despite the outcome, as his attention now solely focuses on finishing in the winner’s circle in Indian Wells for the first time.

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For those who planned accordingly, Monday provided a rare chance to see Sinner enter Stadium 4.

Warming up serves with a servebot.

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Venus Williams and husband Andrea Preti checked out early action of the match.

Granollers and Zeballos picked their moments to take cuts when Sinner was at the net.

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Despite the defeat, it was clear Sinner made the most of his chance to partner Opelka.

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