Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz secured his place in the fourth round at Indian Wells on Sunday after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime with a score of 6-2, 6-3.
Also progressing in the tournament, third seed Jannik Sinner claimed victory over Jan-Lennard Struff with a 6-3, 6-4 win, while 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame Frances Tiafoe with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-3.
In the women’s event, top-ranked player Iga Świątek delivered a dominant performance, defeating Czech opponent Linda Noskova with a convincing score of 6-4, 6-0.
Reflecting on his title defense, Spanish player Alcaraz emphasized the importance of staying focused and approaching each match with a fresh mindset.
“I think the first thing that you have to do if you want to defend the title is you forget about you won the title last year,” remarked the 20-year-old. “It’s about being yourself, being at 100 per cent every day if you want to do good results here.”
Alcaraz also addressed his recent ankle injury, noting that while it wasn’t impacting his performance on the court, he remained vigilant about managing it off the court.
“I’m not going to say I forget about it, but in matches, I forget all about it,” he explained. “I’m moving very well. I don’t think about the ankle in matches, in training. But off the court, of course, I have to take care of it.”
