Americans Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton gave the home fans at Indian Wells plenty to cheer about Monday, taming wind-whipped conditions in the California desert to reach the fourth round.
Fritz, the 2022 BNP Paribas Open champion and No. 3 seed, overcame a slow start to beat Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
He said he expected a tough fight in the next round against Britain’s Jack Draper, who dimmed the Americans’ joy as he beat home hope Jenson Brooksby in straight sets.
“It’s going to be a tough match. I think it’s a tough draw to get him in the round of 16 as a top-four seed. He’s a very good player,” Fritz said. “I think he’s probably better than his ranking is … we have had some tight ones.”
Shelton, 22, got the crowd on its feet as he played with power and poise to defeat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-5, despite dealing with blisters on his hand.
Down a break in the second set, Shelton won the final four games of the match and clinched it with one of eight aces and a mighty cheer. He will play fellow American Brandon Nakashima in the round of 16.
In the evening session, two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz breezed past Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4.
Reuters contributed to this report.
