CALIFORNIA: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz moved into the fourth round at Indian Wells on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Third seed Jannik Sinner also advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jan-Lennard Struff while 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat home hope Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-3.
In the women’s draw, world number one Iga Swiatek powered past Czech Linda Noskova 6-4, 6-0.
Spaniard Alcaraz, who next plays Fabian Marozsan, said one of the keys to defending his title was to put the previous year’s victory out of his mind.
“I think the first thing that you have to do if you want to defend the title is forget about you winning the title last year,” said the 20-year-old.
“It’s about being yourself, being at 100% every day if you want to get a good result here”.
Alcaraz also said the ankle injury which forced him to withdraw from the Rio Open last month was not an issue during his matches.
“I’m not going to say I forget about it, but in matches, I forget all about it,” he added. “I’m moving very well. I don’t think about the ankle in matches, in training. But off the court, of course, I have to take care of it.”