In an effort to exact revenge for his defeat at the Italian Open last year, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-3 6-3 on Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals of Indian Wells.
As he advanced closer to defending his title in the California desert, the Spaniard dominated the entire match with his punishing forehands and unwavering serve.
The victory was cemented by a cross-court forehand on match point. Alcaraz, the second seed, who has stated that winning the tournament again is his only objective, showed little emotion after moving up, simply nodding to his teammates and shouting “Vamos.”
When Marozsan shocked Alcaraz in straight sets in Rome last May as a qualifier, Alcaraz turned the tables on centre court with a methodical and convincing victory.
“I won’t lie, I was anxious before the match,” Alcaraz admitted. “I had no chance in the Rome match when I was playing against someone who beat you easily,” the player recalled. Although I had a hard time approaching the match today, I’m quite pleased with ho
w I performed.
“I performed in my style right away, getting off to a decent start. I was more aware of what needed to be done today than I was in Rome.
Alcaraz is gaining ground in the tournament and hasn’t lost a set since he lost the opening set in his debut match. It was his 50th match triumph in a Masters 1000 competition.
The two-time Grand Slam champion is headed towards a potential semifinal matchup with Jannik Sinner, the winner of the Australian Open.
Prior to facing Alex de Minaur or Alexander Zverev, who play later on Tuesday, Alcaraz must overcome them both.
Earlier, Jiri Lehecka advanced to his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 11th seed, 6-2 6-4.
The 22-year-old Czech defeated the Greek player 25 times to advance to the quarterfinals, where he will take on either big-serving American Ben Shelton or third-seeded Sinner.
