Alcaraz and Sabalenka shine at Indian Wells, Cerúndolo enters round of 16

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka strengthened their Indian Wells title bids with resounding wins on Monday, while Argentina's Francisco Cerúndolo made the round of 16 for the first time.

Alcaraz, winner of the last two editions, gave a tennis lesson to Canadian Denis Shapovalov (6-2, 6-4) in the third round of this U.S. Masters 1000.

After the disappointments of the Australian Open and Doha, Alcaraz is smiling at his home in the Californian desert, where he has won 14 consecutive matches.

With half of the ATP top 10 out of the draw, the Spaniard looks like the favorite, and his game so far has backed him up.

On Monday, he starred in an unbeatable start with two initial breaks, taking off 5-0 in the first set.

Although Shapovalov began to come back, Alcaraz was able to shut the door without getting overconfident.

"Today I didn't feel as many nerves as in the first match. I was more relaxed and I was able to play better," said the former world No. 1.

His opponent in Wednesday's round of 16 will be Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, survivor of a three-hour night battle with another veteran, Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Cerúndolo beats Djokovic's tormentor

In one of the first crossings, Francisco Cerúndolo knocked out Botic van de Zandschulp, who had just eliminated Novak Djokovic on Saturday.

The lanky Dutch player had already shown signs of danger last year, with other resounding victories over Alcaraz at the U.S. Open and Rafael Nadal in the Davis Cup, in the last match of the latter's legendary career.

On a hot day in the Coachella Valley, Van de Zandschulp was no match for Cerúndolo, who ousted him (6-3, 6-4), breaking through to the third round of the tournament.

"I was solid during the match and aggressive when I had to be," remarked Cerúndolo, who rebounded from a sluggish start in which he was down 1-3 in the first set.

Cerúndolo, the first Argentine in the round of 16 since 2021, will face Australian Alex de Miñaur, ranked No. 10 in the ATP rankings, in the round of 16.

Tabilo falls short against Fritz

The other South American tennis player in contention, Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, came up just short of another upset of this edition against local star Taylor Fritz.

Tabilo took the first set and was leading 3-2 in the second, but the Californian reacted in time to prevail in front of his home fans 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

No. 4 in the ATP, Fritz is aiming for a second Indian Wells title by taking advantage of the early exits of Djokovic (7), Alexander Zverev (2), Casper Ruud (5) and Andrey Rublev (8).

Sabalenka, Keys and Gauff advance

In the women's WTA 1000, Aryna Sabalenka advanced for the third year in a row to the round of 16 at Indian Wells, one of the few major hard-court tournaments that has eluded her.

The world No. 1 overwhelmed Italian Lucia Bronzetti (No. 62) 6-1, 6-2 in 74 minutes of flawless tennis.

The Belarusian will fight for the quarters against Britain's Sonay Kartal, number 83 of the WTA.

Two other contenders, Americans Coco Gauff and Madison Keys, went through turbulent matches to get through to the next round.

Gauff overcame her serving problems to take revenge on Greece's Maria Sakkari for her painful defeat in the past semifinals.

The world No. 3 needed six match points to defeat Sakkari (29) 7-6 (7/1), 6-2.

Keys, champion of the past Australian Open, also needed six match points to see off Belgium's Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-7 (8/10), 6-4.