Current Grand Slam champions Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz delivered commanding performances on Sunday, advancing to the fourth spherical of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters.
The two rising stars in tennis confirmed no mercy as they secured swift victories. Australian Open champion Sinner defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4.
Meanwhile, Wimbledon champion Alcaraz continued his sturdy title protection at Indian Wells with a dominant 6-2, 6-3 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Alcaraz, at present ranked No. 2 on the planet, maintained his momentum, securing his eighth consecutive match win on the occasion. Additionally, two skilled feminine gamers showcased spectacular returns to the court docket after maternity breaks.
“It was almost the perfect match for me,” mentioned Alcaraz, who broke Auger-Aliassime’s serve 4 instances. “I moved well, played aggressively, and made fewer mistakes.”
Sinner was equally ruthless as he attacked Struff, successful his seventeenth match in succession since his nation’s Davis Cup victory in November.
Sinner fired 27 winners previous Struff, whose model gave the third seed a goal on the court docket.
“We prepared very well; I tried to learn his moves,” Sinner mentioned. “I performed properly and served properly beneath strain.
“Overall I can be really happy about today, I felt really good on the court.”
Alcaraz gained the final 5 video games of the opening set and broke to start out the second on his option to repeating his win over Auger-Aliassime from the 2023 quarter-finals.
The second seed completed off a victory on his first match level as Auger-Aliassime hit the web along with his twenty third unforced error.
It was a welcome present of energy from Alcaraz, who hasn’t gained a title since successful his second Grand Slam with a shocking conquer Novak Djokovic on the All England Club final 12 months.
He exited the Australian Open within the quarterfinals, then misplaced within the semi-finals in Buenos Aires final month earlier than spraining his ankle and retiring from his opening match in Rio de Janeiro.
“I played at a really high level of tennis, so much higher than the first round,” the Spaniard mentioned.
Alcaraz should still be feeling the results of the ankle, which has left him in need of 2024 match play.
“My confidence has gone down a little bit; I’ve been struggling during practice every day,” he admitted. “I’m trying to keep my confidence as high as I can.”
In different matches, fifth seed Andrey Rublev was knocked out 6-4, 6-4 by rising Czech Jiri Lehecka.
Alex de Minaur, seeded tenth, dominated Dubai finalist Alexander Bublik 7-5, 6-0.
The Australian now performs sixth seed Alexander Zverev, a 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 winner over Tallon Griekspoor.
Greek Eleventh-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas eradicated dwelling crowd favourite Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-3, who reached the Californian quarterfinals a 12 months in the past.
Sweet revenge
In WTA play, Iga Swiatek claimed fast revenge for a January loss by hammering Czech Linda Noskova 6-4, 6-0 to succeed in the fourth spherical.
The Polish prime seed was defeated by the Twenty ninth-ranked challenger in an Australian Open third-round upset.
On Sunday, world No. 1 Swiatek rapidly recovered after taking place an early break to the 19-year-old, leveling at 4-all and sweeping by the rest of the third-round match.
Swiatek will subsequent face Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, who beat Madison Keys 6-4, 6-1.
The Pole mentioned she realized from her loss to Noskova in Melbourne.
“It was much smarter to think about how to just play against Linda rather than focusing on my mistakes,” she mentioned.
“I was motivated to just play better and not make the same mistakes but to improve my game in some aspects.”
Germany’s three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber gained as her comeback from final 12 months’s maternity continued to assemble steam.
The 36-year-old defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5.
She subsequent faces former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, one other comeback candidate after changing into a mom who superior previous Katie Volynets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
