INDIAN WELLS: World number one Carlos Alcaraz swept past Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Indian Wells Masters on Saturday as Novak Djokovic battled back for a three-set victory over Kamil Majchrzak.

Spain’s Alcaraz was untroubled by the former world number three from Bulgaria, pushing his perfect 2026 match record to 13-0 in just 66 minutes.

Djokovic, a five-time Indian Wells champion who has struggled in rec­ent years, had to grind for two hours and 12 minutes to subdue 57th ranked Majchrzak of Poland 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Alcaraz said he has been wary of Dimitrov, but even in the swirling winds on Stadium Court he was in control, firing from the baseline with power and accuracy.

He barely broke sweat and cracked plenty of smiles, saving the lone break point he faced in the second set and even getting a high-five from his opponent on a changeover.

Although he shares the record for most Indian Wells titles with Swiss great Roger Federer, Djokovic has found the early going in California anything but relaxing in recent years.

That was true again on Saturday, but the 38-year-old Serb superstar — back on court for the first time since he fell to Alcaraz in the Australian Open final — managed to escape with a win.

Majchrzak grabbed two quick breaks in the opening set before Djokovic began to find his rhythm from the baseline and assert his superiority.Djokovic hasn’t reached the quarter-finals here since his last run to the title in 2016.

Britain’s Jack Draper launched his title defense with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.

Draper halted Alcaraz’s bid for a rare Indian Wells three-peat in the semi-finals last year before beating Holger Rune in the final.

That victory launched his rise to fourth in the world, before an arm injury brought his 2025 season to a premature close.

In other matches, unseeded Brazilian Joao Fonseca saved two match points to take out 16th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.

Seventh-seeded former champion Taylor Fritz squandered four match points in the second set but held on for a 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 6-1 victory over 87th-ranked Briton Jacob Fearnley.

In the women’s section, Mirra Andreeva launched her Indian Wells title defense with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Solana Sierra to lead a trio of former champions into the third round.

World number two Iga Swiatek, who lifted the prestigious trophy in 2022 and 2024, survived some sticky moments in a 6-0, 7-6(7/2) victory over US qualifier Kayla Day.

Third-seeded Elena Rybakina, the 2023 Indian Wells winner and reigning Australian Open champion, found the going even tougher in a 7-6(7/5), 2-6, 6-2 victory over 43rd-ranked American Hailey Baptiste.

Rybakina said she had plenty to work on after fending off the aggressive Baptiste.

Swiatek sailed through her opening set against Day only for the 187th-ranked lefty to break the Polish star in the opening game of the second.

Swiatek battled back from 0-40 down to avoid falling 0-3, but when she fell behind 0-40 in the fifth game she couldn’t escape and Day gained another break to lead 5-1.

Swiatek responded, winning five straight games as they went to the tiebreaker, in which she powered to a 5-0 lead.

Fifth-seeded home favorite Jessica Pegula opened the night session on Stadium Court with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Croatian veteran Donna Vekic.

Czech Karolina Muchova, who won in Doha last month for her first WTA title since 2019, opened her campaign with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Anna Bondar.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2026