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Carlos Alcaraz battles back to reach Indian Wells fourth round

Carlos Alcaraz had to dig deep to extend his 2026 unbeaten run, rallying from a set and a break down to beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-2 in the third round at Indian Wells on Monday.

The big-serving Frenchman’s aggressive game forced world number one Alcaraz to call on every shot in his arsenal to turn a tense contest his way.

Alcaraz will face 13th-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud for a place in the quarter-finals.

“Really happy that I was able to turn things around,” said Alcaraz.

The Spaniard nearly managed to steal the first-set tiebreaker, in which he had trailed 2-5, but a wayward forehand on set point gave Rinderknech his chance to pocket the set with a pair of winners.

Rinderknech then produced the first service break of the match to put the top seed in a hole in the opening game of the second set.

Alcaraz responded with an immediate break back, ramping up the pressure on Rinderknech’s serve on the way to a decisive break in the sixth game.

When Alcaraz broke again to open the third set, he was on his way, rolling to his sixth win over 26th-ranked Rinderknech in six career meetings.

“In the beginning, I was a little bit mad with myself because I just had a lot of chances in the first set, a few break points, a set point, and I couldn’t make it,” Alcaraz said.

“I got in trouble, to be honest. But I’m just really happy with the way that I just dealt with everything that was happening, accepted it, kept going, stayed strong mentally.”

Rinderknech had never won a match in Indian Wells in three prior appearances, and he leaves this edition without an on-court victory after enjoying a first-round bye and advancing to the third round by walkover.

Carlos Alcaraz, 22, became the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam with his victory at the Australian Open.

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He followed that up with the Qatar Open title, and with two wins under his belt in Indian Wells, is now 14-0 on the season.

He next faces Ruud, who beat Valentin Vacherot 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

It was hard going for world number three Novak Djokovic in his 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over 72nd-ranked American Aleksandar Kovacevic, who peppered Djokovic with 16 aces.

Djokovic made an early break to take the first set, but Kovacevic found his groove and rolled through the second against the clearly frustrated Serb.

Djokovic regrouped in the third but didn’t find the break he needed until the final game.

“Today was really anybody’s game until the last couple of points,” Djokovic said. “That last game in the third, where he missed some first serves, gave me looks on the second, and I used it. That’s pretty much it.”

With five Indian Wells titles, Djokovic is tied for the record with Swiss great Roger Federer, but he’s in the fourth round for the first time since 2017.

Djokovic next faces defending champion Jack Draper, who beat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 7-5.

Draper’s victory here last year launched his rise to fourth in the world.

But he then missed the better part of six months with an arm injury and arrived in California ranked 14th, his win over Cerundolo marking the first time since June that he’s posted back-to-back ATP victories.

A trio of top-10 players were sent packing.

Britain’s Cameron Norrie ousted sixth-ranked Australian Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4, Alex Michelsen beat seventh-ranked fellow American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) and Australian qualifier Rinki Hijikata, ranked 117th in the world, shocked 10th-ranked Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.

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Aryna Sabalenka shows off engagement ring during Indian Wells win

INDIAN WELLS: World number one Aryna Sabalenka made a sparkling appearance at the Indian Wells Open on Friday, not only cruising into the next round but also debuting her engagement ring during her second-round victory.

The Belarusian star defeated Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume 6-4, 6-2 in a commanding performance, but much of the attention also fell on the striking oval-cut diamond ring she wore during the match.

Sabalenka recently got engaged to her Brazilian fiance, Georgios Franguli, with the proposal taking place earlier this week.

The 27-year-old revealed after the match that she felt confident wearing the ring during competition and had taken precautions to ensure it was safe.

“I was pretty confident wearing this ring,” Sabalenka told reporters. “It feels super comfortable and shiny.”

She added that her team had carefully checked whether there was any risk of the diamond coming loose during play.

“We double-checked if there was a possibility to lose the diamond, and there was none,” she said with a smile. “I was pretty confident wearing it, hoping it might even distract my opponent.”

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Sabalenka, who has reached the final of the prestigious WTA 1000 event twice in the past three years, also shared details about the emotional moment when Franguli proposed.

According to the world number one, the proposal came as a complete surprise, although members of her team were aware of the plan beforehand.

“I saw Georgios, and I was crying half the time,” she said. “I thought I looked ugly and not prepared, and this is such a beautiful moment.”

Aryna Sabalenka joked that she even tried to control how the moment was captured on camera.

“I asked the videographer and photographer to make sure my face wasn’t in the pictures, just the ring or side views, because I didn’t want people to see how I looked,” she said. “But it was a beautiful moment.”

Franguli is the chief executive of global health-food brand OakBerry, and Sabalenka lightheartedly reflected on what they have learned about each other since they began dating in 2024.

“What have I learned about him? He likes OakBerry a lot,” she joked. “And what he has learned about me? That I’m crazy.”

READ: Aryna Sabalenka opens Indian Wells bid with dominant win

Aryna Sabalenka opens Indian Wells bid with dominant win

World number one Aryna Sabalenka launched her bid for an elusive first Indian Wells title with a dominant 6-4, 6-2 second-round victory over Japanese qualifier Himeno Sakatsume on Friday.

Sabalenka and men’s world number two Jannik Sinner headlined the day’s play as seeded players swung into action after enjoying first-round byes.

Sabalenka, playing her first tournament since a runner-up finish to Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open, showed no sign of rust as she overpowered 136th-ranked Sakatsume, who was playing her first career match against a top-20 player.

“I’m really happy with the way I was serving, with the way I was putting her on the back foot,” said Sabalenka, who has twice reached the Indian Wells final but lost to Rybakina in 2023 and to Mirra Andreeva last year.

A nervous Sakatsume dropped her serve in the opening game but steadied after saving four break points to hold in the fifth.

Even so, she had no real answer to the Belarusian’s power and the lone break was enough for Sabalenka to seize the opening set.

After Sakatsume held serve to open the second, Sabalenka won five straight games, closing out the match after 72 minutes without facing a break point.

“I haven’t played for a while after the Australian Open, and happy with the performance today,” said Sabalenka, who was cheered on by Brazilian fiance Georgios Frangulis.

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She said the ring he surprised her with was “very comfy,” although she’d taken care to ascertain there was no danger of losing the impressive diamond solitaire during the rigours of a match.

“I was pretty confident wearing this ring,” she said. “It feels comfy, it feels shiny.

“I hope that my opponent will get distracted with this diamond and it’s going to benefit me,” she added with a laugh.

Men’s fourth-seed Alexander Zverev also sailed into the third round, beating Italian Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-4 without facing a break point.

It was an encouraging start for the German, who fell in his opening match last year and has never made it past the quarter-finals in the California desert.

“I have struggled in Indian Wells before, but I feel different this year,” he said.

Hungarian veteran Marton Fucsovics pulled the first big upset of the week, ousting fifth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-1.

It was another disappointing setback for Musetti, who was playing his first tournament since he retired with a right leg injury while leading 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic by two sets in the Australian Open quarter-finals.

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World No. 1 Swiatek sweeps past Sakkari for second Indian Wells title

World number one Iga Swiatek powered past Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-0 on Sunday to claim her second Indian Wells WTA title two years after she beat Sakkari for her first.

The rematch of the 2022 championship showdown produced an almost identical outcome, as four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek dominated the second set to seize her 19th career title and her second of 2024.

Sakkari, ranked ninth in the world, battled gamely through the opening set, erasing a break and saving two break points in the final game before Swiatek delivered a blistering forehand winner to pocket the set after 44 minutes.

It would take just 24 more minutes for the Polish star to wrap things up. She broke Sakkari at love for a 2-0 lead and rolled to the finish.

Iga Swiatek continued her strong comeback from a disappointing third-round exit at the Australian Open in January.

Since then, she has won the title at Doha and reached the semi-finals at Dubai. On Sunday, she became the 10th woman to win the Indian Wells title twice — no one has yet managed to lift the trophy three times.

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“It’s just amazing to be standing here again,” Swiatek told the Stadium Court crowd after winning her eighth WTA 1000 level title.

Swiatek’s run included a grudge match victory over Linda Noskova — the Czech teen who stunned her in the third round at the Australian Open in January.

Swiatek, who lost just 21 games and didn’t drop a set in the course of the tournament, seized the initiative early, breaking Sakkari for a 3-0 lead.

Sakkari, whose two career titles include last September’s 1000-level event in Guadalajara, broke back in the fifth game and leveled the set with a love hold for 4-4.

But serving to stay in the set, she quickly found herself down 0-40 and once Iga Swiatek had the set in hand she was away, winning the last eight games of the match.

“Credit to Iga,” said Sakkari, who came through a testing, rain-disrupted semi-final against US Open champion Coco Gauff to book her rematch with Swiatek.

Although she has won three of six meetings with Swiatek, she hasn’t beaten her since 2021.

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Alcaraz routs Medvedev for Indian Wells title, return to No. 1

INDIAN WELLS: Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz swept past Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday to win the Indian Wells ATP Masters 1000 and secure his return to number one in the world.

US Open champion Alcaraz ended Medvedev’s 19-match winning streak, denying him a fourth title in as many tournaments to ensure he will supplant Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic atop the rankings.

“It feels amazing to lift the trophy here, to recover the No. 1,” Alcaraz said. “I would say this has been the perfect tournament.”

Serbia’s Djokovic, barred from entering the United States because he hasn’t been vaccinated against Covid-19, sat out Indian Wells and will miss the Miami Open starting this week, where Alcaraz is the defending champion.

Alcaraz, 19, who became the youngest world number one ever after his triumph at Flushing Meadows last year, claimed his third Masters 1000 title and joined compatriot Rafael Nadal as the only players to win at least three as a teenager. Nadal won six before turning 20.

He was unstoppable on Stadium Court, breaking through what he’d called the “wall” of Medvedev’s formidable defenses.

Medvedev, coming off titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, could find no answer as Alcaraz fired winners from all over the court, defying the windy conditions.

“Daniil obviously didn’t play at his best level, but I’m very happy for my performance and how I played this tournament.”

He said the big change in him since a semi-final defeat to Nadal last year at Indian Wells was his comfort level on the game’s biggest stages.

“I think my tennis didn’t improve so much since last year. What I improve a lot is to not take the pressure, just to play relaxed. That, for me, is the most important thing.

“That’s why I show a great level, because I feel like I have no pressure. I enjoy.”

Medvedev certainly wasn’t able to ratchet up the pressure on him.

A stinging backhand winner gave Alcaraz an early break in the opening set as he raced to a 3-0 lead.

He gave himself a set point with a sharply angled forehand volley and sealed it with an unreturnable serve, then won the first 10 points of the second set on the way to a 4-0 lead.

He didn’t face a break point as he polished it off in one hour and 11 minutes, a diving volley winner giving him match point that he converted with another service winner.

Not easy

“I expected a tougher match,” he said. “Against him is always a tactic match, and I did perfect today. That’s why it looks easy — but it wasn’t.”

Alcaraz has returned to number one despite a late start to the year. Injury forced him to miss the Australian Open, where Djokovic claimed a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam title.

Since launching his season in February Alcaraz has won a title in Buenos Aires and reached the final in Rio de Janeiro.

But to stay at the top he’ll have to successfully defend his Miami title over the course of the next two weeks.

Medvedev, a former world number one and US Open winner himself, was disappointed that he didn’t play his best, but pleased to get past the fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time, despite twisting his ankle in a win over Alexander Zverev and cutting his thumb in another tumble against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

“Why didn’t I play my best? I don’t know. Maybe it was his ball. Maybe it was the wind, was pretty windy today, and for him it was easier to go through this wind, and that’s normal.

“But the week was amazing,” added Medvedev never a fan of the slow hard courts of Indian Wells.

“I had a pretty toxic relationship with the courts here,” he said during the trophy ceremony as he reeled off a long list of those to thank.

“I would like to thank this court. I was giving a hard time to it, so it gave me a hard time also, rolled my ankle, but it gave me the chance to finish the tournament so thanks a lot to this court.”

Medvedev upset by Monfils at Indians Wells, loses No.1 ranking

INDIAN WELLS: Daniil Medvedev was sent crashing out of the ATP/WTA Indians Wells Masters in a stunning defeat to Gael Monfils on Monday that ended the Russian’s three-week reign as world number one, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has reclaimed the top position.

French world number 28 Monfils produced a vintage performance to down Medvedev 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in just over two hours to advance to the fourth round.

It was the first time the 35-year-old Monfils has beaten a player ranked world number one since 2009.

The defeat means Djokovic will return to the top of the world rankings, three weeks after Medvedev took the top spot on February 28.

Monfils sealed victory in 2hr 6min after converting his sixth match point in brilliant sunshine at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in the California desert.

The veteran Frenchman thumped his chest and pointed at his Ukrainian wife Elina Svitolina in the stands following a superb performance.

“I’ve had a strong start to the year, felt strong, moving good,” Monfils said.

“I’m in my zone and I’m a tough opponent for anyone. It’s been a long time since I’ve beaten a world number one, so I’m pretty happy.”

Reigning US Open champion Medvedev had looked to be in control after clinically taking the first set immediately after breaking Monfils for a 5-4 lead.

Monfils broke early for a 3-1 lead in the second set, but Medvedev broke back to level at 3-3.

Monfils earned a set point in the eighth game with a brilliant backhand up the line before clinching the second set with a cheeky underarm serve.

Medvedev’s composure evaporated in the deciding set, with the Russian earning a code violation for smashing his racket in frustration after being broken in the first game.

Monfils held and then went a double break up before holding again for a 4-0 lead.

With the next two games going on serve, Medvedev was soon in trouble in the seventh game, going 0-40 and three match-points down after blasting an overhead smash long.

The Russian did well to claw back those three match points, and saved two more before Monfils finally converted his sixth.

Monfils, the 26th seed, will face rising Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round.

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