|
 [March 13, 2024]
By Rory Carroll
(Reuters) - Carlos Alcaraz beat Fabian Marozsan to avenge his loss
to the Hungarian at the Italian Open last year, while Jannik Sinner
won his 18th straight match as both players cruised into the Indian
Wells quarter-finals with straight-sets victories on Tuesday.
Alcaraz never looked in any trouble against Marozsan, pounding
forehands and confidently holding serve to take another step towards
defending his title in the California desert with a 6-3 6-3 win.
A crosscourt forehand on match point sealed the victory for the
second-seeded Spaniard, who nodded to his team and yelled "Vamos".
Marozsan was a qualifier when he stunned Alcaraz in straight sets in
Rome last May but the world number two turned the tables under sunny
skies on centre court with a clinical performance.
"Honestly I was nervous before the match, I'm not going to lie,"
Alcaraz said.
"Playing against someone who beat you easily — I remember I had no
chances in the match in Rome. It was difficult for me today to
approach the match, but I'm really happy with the way that I did.
"I started pretty well, playing my style since the beginning. Today
I knew what I had to do better than I did in Rome."
Alcaraz continues to gain momentum at the tournament and since
dropping the first set in the first match he played, he has not lost
one since. The victory was his 50th match win at a Masters 1000
event.
The two-time Grand Slam winner is on course for a possible collision
with Australian Open champion Sinner in the semi-finals but will
first need to get past Alexander Zverev.
The big-serving German sixth seed wore down Australian Alex de
Minaur with his relentless power to claim a 5-7 6-2 6-3 victory.
[to top of second column] |
Mar 12, 2024; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) hits a
shot in his fourth round match defeating Fabian Marozsan (HUN) in
the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory
Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Sinner shaded a tight first set against American
Ben Shelton in windy conditions and met with little resistance in
the second, securing a 7-6(4) 6-1 win to maintain his perfect record
in 2024.
"I just tried to stay positive," Sinner said.
"There were tough moments, especially in the first set, and I'm
really happy that I won that and started really positive in the
second set, which gave me a lot of confidence."
Third seed Sinner will be the favourite when he faces Jiri Lehecka
for the first time in the quarters.
Lehecka, seeded 32nd, backed up his upset of fifth seed Andrey
Rublev with another over 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a dominant
6-2 6-4 win to reach his first ever quarter-final at a Masters 1000
event.
The 22-year-old Czech piled up 25 winners against the Greek player
and has not dropped serve in his last two matches.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles,; Editing by Toby Davis,
Peter Rutherford)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely
responsible for this content.
|
