World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz has reached the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open with a straight-sets win over Fabian Maroussan in Indian Wells. The Spaniard, seeking to become the first player since Novak Djokovic in 2016 to defend the title, won 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and a quarter.
The 24-year-old Hungarian Marossan has a rare winning record against Alcaraz, who he defeated in their only meeting on the clay courts of Rome last year in one of the shocking results of the season.
The Wimbledon champion soon began to seek revenge, winning four straight games from 3-2 down to take the first set. A break of serve at 4-2 in the second game was enough to end the game and meet Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.
“To be honest, I was nervous before the fight. It’s easy to fight someone who beats you, so to speak, and it was hard for me to approach the fight,” Alcaraz said in an on-court interview. “But I’m happy with the victory. Today I know better what I need to do than in Rome.” Zverev defeated Australian player De Minaur after losing the first set, and then won 5-7, 6-2, 6 – 3 comeback wins.
Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner continued her impressive start to the year, beating American Ben Shelton 7-6 (4), 6-1 for an 18th consecutive victory. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 11th seed from Greece, was on the verge of an upset when he lost to Czech youngster Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-4.
In the women’s singles draw, world number one Iga Swiatek will face former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals, taking less than an hour to Time defeated Kazakh player Yulia Putintseva in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. Denmark’s Wozniacki beat three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-2 in 90 minutes to advance to the WTA 100 quarter-finals for the first time since returning to the tour in 2019 finals.
After the match, Wozniacki said she had to play her “best tennis to compete with Swiatek.” “I think I obviously commented on some of her games,” she said. “I know how she plays. She obviously plays good tennis and hits it very powerfully. I’ve trained with her a few times since coming back and also during the U.S. Open. I know the way she plays, but It’s one thing to know how she plays and play against her throughout the game.”
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Swiatek said she has great respect for Wozniacki. “I think she’s playing well even after maternity leave. She’s trying to come back. I have a lot of respect. I’ll be ready like everyone else, but she’s a great person off the court.”
Ukrainian player Marta Kostyuk defeated Russian player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-1, while Russian player Anastasia Potapova defeated 7-7. 5. Defeated Jasmine Paolini of Italy 0-6, 6-3.
