Match Report

Alcaraz stymies surging Shapovalov in Indian Wells

Will anyone be able to stop Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells?

The two-time defending champion won his 14th consecutive match at the ATP Masters 1000 event when he stymied the resurgent Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4 Monday evening for a place in the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open.

"I know he started the season really strong, showing really good tennis with the title in Dallas, playing good tennis in Acapulco, so I knew that I had to start the match really strong, really focused on my things, on the level," Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. "Try to play good tennis, good rallies at the beginning just to get the good pace, to come into the match. I saw that it was going to be a really good and difficult battle, so just really happy with the way that I started the match.

Alcaraz came flying out of the gate to take a 5-0 lead. Although Shapovalov found his game, the recent Dallas Open champion was never able to put the victor into difficulty and the highest-remaining seed in the tournament advanced in one hour and 24 minutes.

When @carlosalcaraz says no 🙅‍♂️@BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/LEQcSQPCq3

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 11, 2025

Alcaraz will next take on 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who produced a watertight deciding-set tie-break to defeat Gael Monfils 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(2). While Alcaraz leads his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Dimitrov 3-2, the Bulgarian has won both their previous meetings, at ATP Masters 1000 events in Shanghai in 2023, and in Miami last year.

Alcaraz has lost just two sets during his 14-match winning streak. He saved three of the four break points he faced and converted four of his eight opportunities according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Shapovalov is a player with firepower to burn, but he was never able to take the racquet out of his opponent’s hand. Alcaraz cracked a big forehand up the line to break in the first game of the match and never looked back.

The 21-year-old now leads the Canadian 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and he has claimed all five of their sets by a margin of 6-4 or greater. Alcaraz emphatically held to love to seal his victory inside Stadium 1. If the second seed was tense in the match, he did not show it.

"Nerves are a good thing, but today I didn't feel as much nerves as I did in the first round. Today I was more relaxed, I was calm, so I could think much better. But as I said, I think every player has nerves at the beginning of the match. It's the way you control it, so I think today and in the first round, I did it pretty well. So hopefully it will continue like this."

Shapovalov leads the ATP Tour this season with three victories against Top 10 players in the PIF ATP Rankings, but was unable to earn a fourth, making 27 unforced errors compared to just 12 winners.

Alcaraz is now 13-2 this season. Already a champion this year in Rotterdam, the Spaniard is trying to claim his sixth ATP Masters 1000 trophy.