Carlos Alcaraz kept his Indian Wells “three-peat” campaign on track with a pristine 6-2 6-4 win against Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the third round, as a crowd of Americans fed off the home fans to reach the final 16.
The second-seeded Spaniard Alcaraz’s win was never in doubt as he took the first five games, sending over 10 winners in the first set alone, as Shapovalov – who was fresh off a confident win in Dallas – struggled to find his usual intensity.
The four-time major winner never faced a break in a nearly flawless second set and he held to love in the final game, clinching the victory in under 90 minutes with a mighty overhead smash.
Alcaraz will play Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov next, after the latter defeated Gael Monfils 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-2).
“I knew at the beginning of the match that I had to be really focused. I had to start the match really strong, knowing it was going to be a really tough battle,” said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz is seeking to become only the third man to win three straight titles at the Masters 1000 tournament after retired great Roger Federer and former No 1 Novak Djokovic, who crashed out in the second round.
“I’m just really pleased about my performance today, about everything I have done,” said Alcaraz. “Few things that I have to improve, but I’m really happy.”
Elsewhere, Australian Alex De Minaur and Italy’s Jasmine Paolini were also victorious overnight: the former defeating Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 6-0, while the latter beat Jaqueline Cristian 6-4 3-6 6-4.
Highlights of Hubert Hurkacz against Alex de Minaur from Indian Wells
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka used her powerful serve to wallop Lucia Bronzetti 6-1 6-2, bringing her best form to the tournament after suffering early exits at the Qatar Open and in Dubai.
It took little time for Sabalenka to find her footing, as she sprinted through the first set and quickly recovered after dropping her serve early in the second. She will play British lucky loser Sonay Kartal next.
“It wasn’t as easy as the score looks like. It was tough conditions out there, and happy with the way I managed that,” she said.
Americans Keys, Fritz, Shelton all progress
Players battled tricky windy conditions in the California desert, as Americans Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton gave the home fans plenty to cheer about with compelling third-round victories.
The 2022 winner Fritz overcame a slow start to beat Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 4-6 6-3 6-1 and said he expects a tough fight against Briton Jack Draper, who dimmed the Americans’ joy as he beat home hope Jenson Brooksby in straight sets.
“It’s going to be a tough match. I think it’s a tough draw to get him in the round of 16 as a top-4 seed. He’s a very good player,” said Fritz. “I think he’s probably better than his ranking is, and yeah, we have had some tight ones.”
Highlights of Alejandro Tabilo against Taylor Fritz from Indian Wells
Newly minted Australian Open champion Keys saved 12 of the 15 break points she faced to beat Belgian Elise Mertens 6-2 6-7(8) 6-4 securing her 14th straight match victory.
The fifth seed, who lost to Mertens in their two previous meetings, fired five aces to set up a fourth-round meeting with Croatian Donna Vekic, and said she had come to expect another level from herself after her maiden major breakthrough.
“Overall in Australia I played some really good tennis, and I think the further away from it you get, the more you kind of forget about the lulls of matches and the moments where you weren’t playing great,” said Keys.
“As great as Australia was and all the wins that I got, there were still some moments in matches where I didn’t play great or things got away from me. So just being really conscious of that.”
Twenty-two-year-old Shelton got the crowd on their feet as he played with power and poise to defeat Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-5, battling with blisters on his hand.
Down a break in the second set, Shelton won the final four games of the match and clinched it with one of eight aces and a mighty cheer. He will play compatriot Brandon Nakashima in the round of 16
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