Indian Wells: Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overpowered Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters. The world number three from Spain defied the difficult windy conditions on Stadium Court to deliver a dominant performance against a player who had won their past two encounters — including in the quarter-finals at the Miami Open last year. He denied Dimitrov’s bid to join Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime as the only players to beat Alcaraz in three consecutive meetings. With his 50th ATP Masters 1000 match win, Alcaraz kept alive his bid to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win three straight Indian Wells titles. Having reached the fourth round without dropping a set, Alcaraz produced his most impressive performance of the tournament, appearing supremely untroubled by the swirling winds that had ball kids scampering after blowing trash. He broke Dimitrov to open the match and broke him again to secure the first set. He didn’t face a break point until the fifth game of the second set, but he worked his way out of that jam with an ace on Dimitrov’s third break chance, then broke the Bulgarian for a 5-1 lead. Alcaraz polished it off in style, giving himself a match point with his sixth ace of the match and sealing the win with a forehand winner. He will play Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the semi-finals. Cerundolo beat Australian Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-3.
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