[Source: Reuters]

Carlos Alcaraz kept his Indian Wells “three-peat” campaign on track with a pristine 6-2 6-4 win against Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the third round on Monday, as a crowd of Americans fed off the home fans to reach the final 16.

The second-seeded Spaniard Alcaraz was never in doubt as he won the first five games, sending over 10 winners in the first set alone, as Shapovalov – who was fresh off a confident win in Dallas – struggled to find his usual intensity.

The four-times major winner never faced a break in a nearly flawless second set and he held to love in the final game, clinching the affair in under 90 minutes with a mighty overhead smash.

He will play the winner of a match between Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and France’s Gael Monfils.

“I knew at the beginning of the match that I had to be really focused. I had to start the match really strong, knowing it was going to be a really tough battle,” said Alcaraz.

Alcaraz wants to become only the third man to win three straight titles at the Masters 1000 tournament after retired great Roger Federer and former number one Novak Djokovic, who crashed out in the second round.

“I’m just really pleased about my performance today, about everything I have done,” said Alcaraz. “Few things that I have to improve, but I’m really happy.”

Belarusian world number one Aryna Sabalenka used her powerful serve to wallop Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-1 6-2, bringing her best form to the tournament after suffering early exits at the Qatar Open and in Dubai.

It took little time for Sabalenka to find her footing, as she sprinted through the first set and quickly recovered after dropping her serve early in the second. She will play British lucky loser Sonay Kartal next.

“It wasn’t as easy as the score looks like. It was tough conditions out there, and happy with the way I managed that,” she said.

AMERICANS ADVANCE

Players battled tricky windy conditions in the California desert, as Americans Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton gave the home fans plenty to cheer about with compelling third-round victories.

Third seed Gauff overcame late nerves to beat Greek Maria Sakkari 7-6(1) 6-2, getting over the finish line even as she produced six double faults in the final game before closing it out on her sixth match point with a forehand winner.

“Except the last game I thought I played a great match. Just trying to look at the positives,” said Gauff, who had revenge on her mind after losing to Sakkari in the semi-final last year.

“Obviously I was a bit disappointed with the last game but that’s just the perfectionist in me.”

She will next play Swiss Belinda Bencic, whom she has beaten twice before, most recently in the round of 16 in Melbourne this year.

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