Alcaraz annihilates Dimitrov to make quarters at Indian Wells Masters

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed, defeated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the No 14 seed, 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells Masters in California on Wednesday.

In challenging, windy conditions, defending champion Alcaraz turned on some of his best tennis to get revenge on Dimitrov, who had beaten him in their last two meetings. The 21-year-old had points to win all 14 of the matches games, and improves his record in 2025 to 14-2 with the win.

By booking his place in a fourth consecutive quarter-final at Indian Wells, Alcaraz extends his win streak at the event to 15 matches. Only two other men in history – Roger Federer (18) and Novak Djokovic (19) – have longer win streaks at the tournament than Alcaraz. The Spaniard has now won 30 of his last 32 sets in California as well.

No slowing down for Alcaraz

Speaking after the match, Alcaraz praised his ruthlessness against the No 14 seed, saying that he was pleased he didn’t ease off at all over the course of the one-hour, 14-minute match.

“I didn’t slow down when I won the first set, I just continued to play great tennis,” he said. “That’s what I’m pleased the most about today.

“It’s really difficult to play against Grigor, he’s a really talented player. He can do whatever he wants with the ball. The last two times I lost against him.

“It was really difficult conditions, very tough for both of us. I had to survive. I’m very happy that I was able to play long rallies, even with the conditions. I’m really happy to get through.”

Alcaraz, ranked No 3, will face Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the No 25 seed, next.

The 21-year-old Spaniard won against Frenchman Quentin Halys (6-4, 6-2) and Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the No 27 seed (6-2, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Indian Wells Tennis Masters.

Earlier in the tournament, Dimitrov, ranked No 15, beat Portuguese Nuno Borges (6-3, 6-4) and edged out Frenchman Gael Monfils (7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (2)).

Indian Wells Masters 1000, other last 16 results (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 13.042.410, most recent results first):

• Jack Draper (13) beat Taylor Fritz (3): 7-5, 6-4
• Francisco Cerundolo beat Alex De Minaur (9): 7-5, 6-3
• Ben Shelton (11) beat Brandon Nakashima (32): 7-6 (6), 6-1
• Daniil Medvedev (5) beat Tommy Paul (10): 6-4, 6-0
• Arthur Fils (20) beat Marcos Giron: 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
• Holger Rune (12) beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (8): 6-4, 6-4
• Tallon Griekspoor beat Yosuke Watanuki (Q): 7-6 (4), 6-1

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