(Indian Wells) Spaniard and world number two Carlos Alcaraz defeated Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime in two sets during a third round match at the Indian Wells tournament on Sunday.
Alcaraz only needed 1 hour and 17 minutes to win 6-2, 6-3 against the 31e first in the series.
He broke Auger-Aliassime’s serve twice in each set and saved the only break point he allowed to his rival.
The match ended when Auger-Aliassime sent a forehand into the net, falling victim to one last break of serve in the match.
Alcaraz, reigning tournament champion, will face Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, 58e world racket, during the next round.
Auger-Aliassime had won three of the four previous duels between the two players.
He won only 54.3% of the points contested on his first service ball, compared to 78.1% for Alcaraz.
Auger-Aliassime managed only six winners against 23 unforced errors. Alcaraz for his part hammered 15 winning shots and committed 17 unforced errors.
In the other matches played on Sunday, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, no. 11, also reached the fourth round thanks to a 6-3, 6-3 victory against the American Frances Tiafoe, no. 18. For his part, the Australian Alex De Minaur, No. 10, defeated Kazakh Alexander Bublik, No. 20, 7-5, 6-0.
On the women’s side, top seed Iga Swiatek triumphed 6-4, 6-0 over No. 26 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, also in a third-round match.