Carlos Alcaraz, who was nearly flawless to start BNP Paribas Open, was even better on Wednesday.
The two-time defending champion powered to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, Calif.
Alcaraz, a Spaniard who is seeded second, completed his day’s work in 74 minutes.
After getting a first-round bye, he won each of his first two matches while dropping a total of six games. He shaved that number further in the fourth round on a windy day in the desert, though he still praised his opponent postmatch.
“It’s really difficult playing against Grigor,” Alcaraz said. “He’s a really talented player. He can do whatever he wants with the ball. Today with the conditions, it was really tough for both. I had to survive.
“I always say in these conditions, you have to survive no matter what. I’m very happy that I was able to play long rallies. I got a good rhythm, even with the conditions, so I’m just really happy to get through.”
Dimitrov, seeded 14th, had three break points in the match but failed to take advantage of any of them. Alcaraz also won 62 percent of the points on Dimitrov’s second serve.
Alcaraz will put his 15-match BNP Paribas Open winning streak on the line against 25th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo in the quarterfinals. The Argentine topped ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday.
Alcaraz said of Cerundolo, “I’ve watched his matches. I know he’s playing great. I don’t know which one his is best surface, I don’t know if it’s clay or hard. He plays really well on every surface. That shows the player he is.
“He’s a really complete player, he can play really good tennis on every surface. I have to be really focused on that, I have to be ready.”
In other fourth-round action, 13th-seeded Jack Draper of Great Britain knocked out a Southern California native, third-seeded Taylor Fritz, 7-5, 6-4.
Draper dominated with his first serve, winning 91 percent of the points, and he saved the lone break point he faced against the tournament’s 2022 champion.
Draper’s quarterfinal foe will be Ben Shelton, the 11th seed. Shelton won an all-U.S. matchup against Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (6), 6-1. After the tight first-set tiebreaker, Shelton pulled away by winning the first five games of the second set.
–Field Level Media
