Carlos Alcaraz kept his Indian Wells "three-peat" campaign on track with a pristine win against Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the third round on Monday.
Image: Martin BERNETTI, AFP
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 on Monday, as a crowd of Americans fed off the home fans to reach the final 16.
The second-seeded Spaniard Alcaraz was never in doubt as he won 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-times major winner never faced a break in a nearly flawless second set and he held to love in the final game, clinching the affair in under 90 minutes with a mighty overhead smash.
"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 wants to become only the third man to win three straight titles at the Masters 1000 tournament after retired great Roger Federer and former number one 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."
Alcaraz will face Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16 after the Bulgarian 14th seed beat Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(2) in a three-hour battle.
Right-handed Dimitrov was 3-1 up in the third set when his forehand smashed into his left thumb, leaving it bleeding. He continued after receiving treatment but lost the next three games, before fighting back to force a tiebreak and seal the win.
Belarusian world number one Aryna Sabalenka used her powerful serve to wallop Italian 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.
Players battled tricky winds in the California desert, as Americans Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton gave the home fans plenty to cheer about with compelling third-round victories.
Third seed Gauff overcame late nerves to beat Greek Maria Sakkari 7-6(1) 6-2, getting over the finish line even as she produced six double faults in the final game before closing it out on her sixth match point with a forehand winner.
"Except the last game I thought I played a great match. Just trying to look at the positives," said Gauff, who had revenge on her mind after losing to Sakkari in the semi-final last year.
"Obviously I was a bit disappointed with the last game but that's just the perfectionist in me."
She will next play Swiss Belinda Bencic, whom she has beaten twice before, most recently in the round of 16 in Melbourne this year.
"It was a bit tricky conditions. I think we were both struggling a little bit with finding the rhythm, and I was just trying to stay solid on my end of the court," said Gauff.
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."
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."
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.
Reuters
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