Alcaraz advances into Indian Wells fourth round,
INDIAN WELLS: Spain’s 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.
He will play the winner of a match between Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and France’s Gael Monfils.
“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.
