Alcaraz Still On Track For “Hat-trick” Of Champions

INDIAN WELLS, MONDAY—Carlos Alcaraz has completed two rounds with a solid performance. The Spanish tennis player still maintains the chance to win the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells title for the third consecutive time.

One of those solid performances was demonstrated when he faced Denis Shapovalov in the third round at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, California, United States. In the match that took place on Monday (10/3/2025) evening local time or Tuesday afternoon Indonesia time, Alcaraz won with a score of 6-2, 6-4.

The victory was quite significant for Alcaraz in the early rounds of the tournament. Moreover, Shapovalov's performance had been consistent throughout February. He won the ATP 500 Dallas and reached the semifinals of the ATP 500 Acapulco. Alcaraz also repeated his victory over Shapovalov, which he achieved during their first meeting in the third round of the 2023 French Open Grand Slam.

On the hardcourts of Indian Wells Garden, Alcaraz broke Shapovalov’s serve immediately, then went up 5-0 with deadly forehands. “I had to be very focused at the beginning of the match, had to come out strong because Denis played well at the beginning of the season. So, I was expecting a tough match,” Alcaraz said.

Although Alcaraz won two sets, the match statistics show a fairly balanced series of points with Shapovalov. The difference lies in Alcaraz's ability to take advantage of opportunities when he gets a break point. He won four of eight break points, while Shapovalov only stole Alcaraz's serve once out of four opportunities.

In addition to performing solidly since the first point was contested, Alcara stated that the key to his victory in the second set was a calmer state of mind. "Today, I was more relaxed compared to the previous match. However, the initial nervousness is actually good, and all tennis players feel it. The key is how to control it," said Alcaraz on the official ATP website.

The victory over the Canadian tennis player marked the 14th consecutive win for Alcaraz in the Masters 1000 tournament, and he has only lost two sets during those victories. If the 21-year-old Spanish player can maintain his aggressive performance until the end of the tournament, he will match the achievements of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as three-time consecutive champions of the Indian Masters.

Federer won a hat-trick of titles from 2004-2006 to win five titles at Indian Wells. Djokovic also has five titles at Indian Wells, three of which came from 2014-2016.

To secure a position alongside those legends, Alcaraz must defeat Grigor Dimitrov, who overcame fellow veteran player Gael Monfils in the fourth round. If he succeeds in that challenge, the next hurdle will come from either Francisco Cerundolo or Alex de Minaur. Following that, his likely formidable opponent in the semifinals will be one of the two home players, Taylor Fritz or Ben Shelton.

In the top half of the draw, three unseeded players will play in the fourth round on Tuesday. Tallon Griekspoor, who beat top seed Alexander Zverev in the second round, will face qualifier Yosuke Watanuki.

While the men's singles have lost Zverev, Casper Ruud, Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev from the top ten seeds, almost all of the top ten women's singles seeds will be in the fourth round.

The eight seeds' progress to the second week was completed by top seed Aryna Sabalenka's third-round victory. The world number one defeated Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 6-2 to set up a fourth-round meeting with lucky loser Sonya Kartal.

Before Sabalenka appeared, the top-half seeded winners were Cori “Coco” Gauff (seeded No. 3), Madison Keys (seeded No. 5), and Jasmine Paolini (seeded No. 6). The day before, those who secured their places in the fourth round were Iga Swiatek (seeded No. 2), Jessica Pegula (seeded No. 4), Elena Rybakina (seeded No. 7), Zheng Qin Wen (seeded No. 8), and Mirra Andreeva (seeded No. 9). In fact, Rybakina will meet Andreeva in Tuesday’s match.

While Sabalenka could have won easily, Keys had to play for two hours and 48 minutes to beat Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-4 in the third round. In fact, one of the home team's mainstays had two match points on serve when leading 5-3 in the second set. She also failed to convert two other match points in the tiebreak, although she still managed to win the third set.

"That match was a reflection of how to defend. I didn't play to my expectations. Maybe because my expectations were so high," Keys said.

The high expectations arose because Keys was competing for the first time as a Grand Slam champion. The 30-year-old won the Australian Open in her second Grand Slam final after losing to Sloane Stephens at the 2017 US Open. (AFP)