Since its inception more than forty years ago, the BNP Paribas Open has a storied history. Names like John Newcombe, Yannick Noah, and Boris Becker are former Men’s champions. Both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have won the tournament a whopping five times, the most among past and present champions. Yet every year, there is a new name and a fresh face, eager to make a name for themselves and start a journey that perhaps culminates one day with a victory speech in front of 16,000 people strong.
This year, the name so far has been Thousand Oaks’ Marcos Giron, and the face has been locked in a constant ear-to-ear grin since his opening Qualifier match, won in three long sets. The grueling test continued in Round 2, just a day later, when he played full throttle for three more sets that culminated in yet another tiebreaker. The second win launched him into the Main Draw, but not before he posed for countless photos and autographs as he meandered his way to the player’s lounge, all along flashing the pearly whites as SoCal followers shouted encouragement.
He’s heard the cheers before, as a UCLA Bruin seeking and achieving an NCAA singles title in 2014, the same year he made his US Open debut as a wild card. Many of those fans (and then some) came out to Stadium 5 on Thursday for Giron’s first round match in the BNP main draw, against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. With 180 ranking spots between them, the #37 Chardy was a clear favorite. But Giron proved he has what it takes to compete with top international talent, and like fellow Americans Taylor Fritz and Mitchell Krueger have previously, Giron found a way to topple the French star in straight sets, 7-6(3), 7-6(1).
Calling his run at Indian Wells “epic,” Giron admits he was “playing with house money” in the qualifier, simply trying to stay alive. But it could be the young Australian phenom Alex de Minaur, Giron’s Friday foe, who needs to raise his game when the “Fight Fight Fight” of a UCLA Bruin returns to the court.
Sam Querrey (Santa Monica) held court on Stadium 1 Thursday afternoon, extended to three sets but securing a win over Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4. The win was a good start for Querrey, who’s had a subpar campaign so far in 2019, and while today’s match was statistically lackluster, Querrey nonetheless will use the momentum when he faces a much more challenging #13 Milos Raonic in the next round.
Also on center court, Venus Williams (Lynwood) managed to rebound from a dreadful second set before pushing to a 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 victory over Andrea Petkovic in front of an exuberant crowd. Williams at times looked like the Grand Slam champion of old, matching the Bosnian veteran stroke for stroke in the third set to lock up the win. She’ll need more of the same in the second round, when #3 Petra Kvitova comes calling.
Also on Thursday, Poway’s Bradley Klahn was unable to get in stride and fell in routine fashion.