The two banners of the new generation of tennis players in the world, The Spanish Carlos Alcaraz and the Italian Jannik Sinner, took one step closer on Tuesday towards their long-awaited duel at the Indian Wells Masters 1000, where Novak Djokovic left the way clear for them with his early elimination.
Alcaraz, current champion, took revenge against the Hungarian Fábián Marozsán and advanced to the quarterfinals. For his part, Sinner dispatched local promise Ben Shelton in the afternoon.
In the first Masters 1000 of the year, Novak Djokovic's departure on Monday night against the Italian Luca Nardi, number 123 in the ATP, was still echoing. Last year, Alcaraz experienced a similar fiasco, precisely against Marozsán who, when he was then ranked 135th in the rankings, knocked the Spaniard out of the way at the Rome Masters 1000.
With this background in mind, Alcaraz exhibited almost seamless tennis on Tuesday to defeat Marozsán 6-3, 6-3, in one hour and 17 minutes of play.
“I was nervous before the game, I'm not going to lie,” Alcaraz admitted. “Last year I didn't know much about Fábián. I had only seen some of his best plays,” he added.
“Today I knew his game better and I knew what I had to do from the beginning to the last ball. And, of course, I played better than in Rome,” he highlighted.
At the age of 20, the Spaniard reached 50 matches won in Masters 1000 tournaments, the second highest category below the Grand Slams, of which he has won four titles. Only his compatriot Rafael Nadal won more Masters 1000 matches than Alcaraz before the age of 21, with 82, while Djokovic, at that age, was 48.
Alcaraz will face the German Alexander Zverev in his third consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals. The German dominates the history with the Spaniard (5-3) and the most recent victory he achieved was in January, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
“We are going to try to improve the things I did wrong in Australia, play at our level and not let them dominate the game,” Alcaraz told the press.
Jannik Sinner remains undefeated in 2024
Sinner extended his great start to the season with a solid victory against Ben Shelton 7-6 (7/4) and 6-1. The Italian, who won his first Grand Slam in Australia in January, remains undefeated after 15 matches in 2024.
“I never take anything for granted. Every tournament, every match I try to do better, to stay mentally focused. Every day it's a different opponent,” Sinner said of his streak.
Sinner will play in the quarterfinals against the Czech Jiri Lehecka (32nd in ATP), who defeated the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. If they overcome their crosses on Thursday, Sinner and Alcaraz will repeat last year's semifinal from which the Spaniard emerged victorious.
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With AFP
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