Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz avenged a previous loss to Fabian Marozsan, securing a 6-3, 6-3 victory on Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open as the top remaining seed in the men’s draw.
A day after “lucky loser” Luca Nardi stunned No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the third round at Indian Wells, Alcaraz easily outplayed the Hungarian who had previously ousted him from the Italian Open in May.
Marozsan, then a qualifier ranked No. 135 in the world, caused an upset by defeating Alcaraz, who was on the cusp of claiming the top spot in the rankings, with a score of 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the third round in Rome.
“Honestly, I was nervous before the match. I’m not going to lie,” Alcaraz admitted. “Playing against someone that beat you… Today I knew what I had to do.”
Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner continued his impressive form by defeating Ben Shelton 7-6 (4), 6-1 later on Tuesday, securing his 18th consecutive victory. The third-ranked Italian has now won 15 matches in a row in 2024, clinching titles at Melbourne and Rotterdam.
It marked the 150th hard-court victory for the 22-year-old Sinner, making him the first player born in the 2000s to reach that milestone.
Sinner had a set point at 5-4, 40-30 in the first set, but Shelton was saved by a net cord. It then took Sinner another 15 minutes to close out the first set, but in the second set, he surged ahead 3-0 and cruised to victory. Sinner progressed to the quarterfinals to face Jiri Lehecka, who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-4.
Alcaraz, the defending champion at Indian Wells, encountered a shaky start in his opening match this year but has since lost just 12 games in the other six sets.
He is set to face Alexander Zverev, who rallied after losing the first set to Alex de Minaur and triumphed with a score of 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
In the women’s draw, top-seeded Iga Świątek dominated with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Yulia Putintseva, while Caroline Wozniacki defeated Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-2 in a clash between former No. 1-ranked players. Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk overcame Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-4, 6-1, and Anastasia Potapova secured victory over Jasmine Paolini with a score of 7-5, 0-6, 6-3.
