World number two Carlos Alcaraz made it 10 wins from 11 matches in 2023 after defeating Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in round three at the Indian Wells Open.

Alcaraz, 19, kicked off his 2023 campaign with eight wins in a row, including an Argentina Open title, before losing to Cameron Norrie in the Rio Open decider.

He has yet to drop a set at this fortnight's tournament in California, following up his opening win over Thanasi Kokkinakis with another strong showing against 31st seed Griekspoor.

The Spaniard will look to keep his strong form going when he meets Jack Draper in the fourth round, after 21-year-old Draper prevailed 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 in a battle of the Brits against Andy Murray.

Murray, who came into the match with six wins from his past seven outings, had an opportunity to take the match by the scruff of the neck but could not capitalise on a set point before going down in a tight tie-break, before Draper took charge.

California's own Taylor Fritz lived up to his fourth seeding, with the defending champion having little trouble in overcoming Argentina's Sebastian Baez 6-1 6-2, and he will play Hungary's Marton Fucsovics for a spot in the quarter-final.

Fucsovics, after upsetting 16th seed Alex De Minaur in the previous round, got the better of Slovakia's Alex Molcan 6-4 6-2.

Former world number three Stan Wawrinka showed he still has some gas in the tank after a surprise 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 triumph over world number eight Holger Rune, with the 37-year-old showing what he has learned through competing at the top level for as long as the 19-year-old Dane has been alive.

Jannik Sinner, the 13th seed, successfully navigated the challenge of veteran Adrian Mannarino for a 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 victory, Tommy Paul won his top-20 showdown against Hubert Hurkacz 4-6 6-2 6-4, and eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime knocked out Francisco Cerundolo 7-5 6-4.

Two of the Indian Wells Masters' top-three seeds have failed to reach the final 16 after Casper Ruud fell 6-4 7-6 (7-2) at the hands of Cristian Garin on Sunday.

Ruud, the third seed, joined second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas with an early exit after a timid display, with just 17 winners to go with 17 unforced errors against Chile's Garin.

Meanwhile, Garin took his opportunity against the world number four with both hands, rattling off 39 winners with 24 unforced errors as he made the decision to take the match on and not die wondering.

Garin, who already defeated 29th seed Yoshihito Nishioka in the second round, will meet his third seeded opponent in a row in the quarter-final when he takes on Spain's 23rd seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Davidovich Fokina eliminated 13th seed Karen Khachanov 6-3 1-6 6-4, but it was still a strong day for the Russians as top hopefuls Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev advanced.

Medvedev, the fifth seed, was tested in his 6-2 3-6 6-1 victory over Belarus' Ilya Ivashka, while sixth seed Rublev saw off France's Ugo Humbert 7-5 6-3 without much issue.

Waiting for Rublev in the quarter-final is Briton Cameron Norrie after his 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-2 battle against Taro Daniel, while Alexander Zverev beat Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5 1-6 7-5 to book a tantalising clash with Medvedev.

In a poor day for the Australians, Jason Kubler went down 6-3 6-2 against 14th seed Frances Tiafoe, and Jordan Thompson could not follow up his incredible upset against Tsitsipas, falling 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to Chile's Alejandro Tabilo.

Andy Murray acknowledged he produced a nervous performance against Radu Albot on Saturday but suggested it was due to the pressure of a kind Indian Wells Masters draw.

Murray had been due to play Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round in California, only for the 15th seed to pull out with injury.

The three-time major champion instead defeated Albot in 6-4 6-3 for his first straight-sets victory of the season.

That sets Murray up to play fellow Briton Jack Draper in round three ahead of a potential round-four meeting with top seed Carlos Alcaraz, the best player in the draw after Novak Djokovic was unable to enter.

Murray was in complete control against Albot but played with nerves, explaining: "I didn't know if it was because of [the change of opponent].

"I was trying to give reasons for why I may have felt that way. I felt nervous on the court.

"A lot of the way that Radu plays and Carreno Busta plays is not too dissimilar, in terms of the way they like to play points and maybe where and how they like to serve.

"Obviously there are differences in their games, but it wasn't a huge change in terms of my game plan or what I was expecting going into the match.

"But maybe I felt like it was a good opportunity for me and that the draw had opened up slightly. I obviously wanted to try to finish the match quickly."

Yet those nerves are not a problem for Murray, who says he would rather play under that pressure.

"I generally much prefer feeling nervous when I play matches and feeling pressure," he said. "It just felt a bit out of sync with the situation. I was in, I guess, pretty decent control of the match.

"I was serving well, I was hitting the ball pretty well, but there was just more tension than probably there should have been out there on the court.

"But usually I prefer to feel nerves, providing they are in check. And maybe they weren't, for whatever reason.

"I would way rather feel more tension than feel flat, which is really never a good sign for me. If I wake up and I don't feel any of the butterflies or anything like that, it's generally a bad sign."

Andy Murray pulled out another narrow win on Thursday as he collected an opening round 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-4 comeback against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Indian Wells Masters.

It is the latest in a string of hard-fought wins for Murray, who has played the maximum number of sets in each of his past 10 victories dating back to the Gijon Open in October, including a pair of five-setters at the Australian Open.

Etcheverry started strong, fresh off his first ever ATP final at the Chile Open, but committed more unforced errors (21) than winners (17) in the second and third sets combined.

Fellow Great Britain representative Jack Draper was far more comfortable in his 6-1 6-1 demolition of Switzerland's Leandro Riedi, booking an all-English clash against Daniel Evans in the second round.

Former world number three Stan Wawrinka prevailed 6-4 1-6 6-1 against Aleksandar Vukic, but Vukic's Australian compatriot Thanasi Kokkanakis flew the flag with a 6-4 6-1 triumph over hometown talent Brandon Holt.

In a better result for the Americans, Mackenzie McDonald breezed past Filip Krajinovic 6-3 6-0 in just 63 minutes, and rising 20-year-old Ben Shelton had no problems in his 6-4 6-1 win over Fabio Fognini in 72 minutes.

Argentina's Guido Pella ground out 3-6 7-5 6-2 comeback in his South American clash against Brazil's Thiago Monteiro, and Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff did the same in his European showdown against France's Quentin Halys, taking it 1-6 6-3 6-3.

Goran Ivanisevic says Novak Djokovic has not given up hope of competing at the Miami Open this month.

The 22-time grand slam champion withdrew from Indian Wells on Monday as he is unable to play in the United States.

As he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, Djokovic had applied for special permission to enter the USA, but was not given the green light.

While the 35-year-old is in the draw for the Miami Open, he may have to withdraw again despite the United States Tennis Association and US Open expressing their hope he would be allowed to feature.

Djokovic wants to play in a tournament that starts on March 22, his coach Ivanisevic confirmed, and pressed for a swift decision on the issue.

"We haven't given up. He wants to play and I would love it if they allow him – it would be great both for him and for tennis," he told Tennis Majors.

"If not, it's not the end of the world, he didn’t play last year as well. The most important thing is that we find out soon, so that we can make a plan.

"Although, in terms of preparing for the European clay court season, I'm not sure playing in Miami is the best solution. It depends on Novak – in the past he has triumphed in Monte Carlo having played in Indian Wells and Miami.

"If he is mentally ready and in his fighter mode, like he was in Australia, then anything is possible."

Andy Murray expects Russian and Belarusian players to feature at Wimbledon in 2023, though he understands if the ban is upheld.

Last year, players from both nations were prevented from participating following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the ban resulting in Wimbledon being stripped of ranking points.

Additionally, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) was fined £1.4million by the ATP and WTA due to players being excluded.

It is yet to be announced whether the ban will remain in place for this year's competition, though Murray expects there to be no such limitations.

"It's a really difficult one and I do feel for the players who weren't able to play last year – but I also understand the situation and why it's really hard for Wimbledon to make a call on it as well," he told BBC Sport.

"My understanding is that they are going to be allowed to play and I'm not going to be going nuts if that is the case.

"But if Wimbledon went down another route, I would be understanding of that."

Murray's comments came at Indian Wells, where he faces Tomas Etcheverry on Thursday, with the potential of an all-British affair against Dan Evans or Jack Draper in the third round.

Evans and Draper will face off in the second round if the latter beats Leandro Riedi, while Murray would have to defeat Etcheverry and Pablo Carreno Busta to set up a tussle with either of his compatriots.

But Murray insists he is not looking that far ahead.

"To be honest, I don't really care that much. Obviously, I can see why it's interesting, and if Evo [Evans] plays against Jack I'll be interested in the match," he added.

"But I'm not particularly bothered by it and for me it's not going to impact me until the third round. I need to get there and this is not always a tournament where I have played amazingly."

Novak Djokovic's absence from the Indian Wells Open has caused a stir in US politics, and on the tennis court it is hugely significant, too.

Sport was given a jolt three years ago when Indian Wells organisers cancelled the event on the eve of action getting under way, citing one local case of COVID-19.

At that point, on March 8, 2020, there had been more than 500 confirmed cases across the United States, with 21 deaths. Soon enough, events across the globe were being postponed or scrubbed.

Coronavirus travel restrictions prevented the unvaccinated Djokovic from taking part last year, and they will keep him away again this time, despite calls from two Florida senators for the jab requirement to be lifted by President Biden to allow the Serbian into the country.

With the world number one sidelined, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz look likely challengers for the men's title. There have been surprise champions in recent times, with Cameron Norrie winning in 2021 and Taylor Fritz carrying off the title 12 months ago, so it would be hasty to rule out something similar.

In the women's event, there has not been a successful title defence since Martina Navratilova won in 1990 and 1991. That can partly be attributed to Serena and Venus Williams boycotting for over a decade at the peak of their powers after complaining of facing racial abuse, and in their absence no player stepped up to dominate.

Iga Swiatek triumphed in Indian Wells and Miami last season, racking up the 'Sunshine Double', and she starts as a strong favourite again, but defeat in the recent Dubai final to Barbora Krejcikova showed the 21-year-old rankings leader will not have everything her way this season.

First-round action gets under way on Wednesday, after two days of qualifying, and here Stats Perform, with Opta data, looks at what lies ahead.

After Norrie and Fritz, could there be another shock men's winner?

Djokovic has won a joint-record five Indian Wells titles, but he last featured in 2019, when he lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber in round three.

Rafael Nadal is also absent this time with a hip injury, and with Roger Federer retired this will be the second Indian Wells main draw since 2000, after 2021, to feature none of the ATP Big Three.

The Big Three was a Big Four at one point, though, and Andy Murray will be competing. It is one of the two Masters 1000 tournaments Murray has never won, along with Monte Carlo, having triumphed at the other seven. Murray has the most match wins at Indian Wells among all men competing this time, having 28 to his name, two more than John Isner who sits next on the list.

No ATP player has a better win percentage at Indian Wells than Djokovic (84.7 per cent), who has won 50 of his 59 matches, while the now-retired Federer has appeared in the most finals (nine), also winning five times, so there is no doubt the field is missing its long-time classiest acts.

Fritz last year became the first men's champion aged under 25 years old since Djokovic in 2011, and he was also the first American to take the men's title since Andre Agassi beat Pete Sampras in the 2001 final.

Medvedev has won three consecutive tournaments in the lead-up this year, tearing to titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, but the Russian has a disappointing record at Indian Wells, having yet to reach the quarter-finals in five visits.

Just four players this century, including Alcaraz last year, have reached the semi-final stage before turning 20, with Nadal, Djokovic and Murray the other three. Alcaraz is still only 19 but a shade older than Boris Becker when he was a 19-year-old champion in 1987, the youngest men's winner.

Who else might come through? It feels like a free-for-all and Felix Auger-Aliassime will be hoping for a breakthrough tournament, with the Canadian being the only member of the current ATP top 10 to have never reached a final at ATP 1000 level. It has to happen sooner rather than later, surely.

Swiatek bids to lift curse of women's champions

Ever since Navratilova's two in a row, being a back-to-back champion at Indian Wells has been beyond all singles players on the WTA side.

Indeed, the only players to reach the final the year after their title run have been Lindsay Davenport (champion 1997, runner-up 1998) and Ana Ivanovic (champion 2008, runner-up 2009).

Nine women have won twice at Indian Wells, but none have managed three or more titles. The nine are: Steffi Graf, Mary Joe Fernandez, Navratilova, Daniela Hantuchova, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, Davenport and Maria Sharapova.

A Swiatek victory would make it a club of 10, but there is a club of one when it comes to players who have captured two titles without dropping a set in either trophy run. Sharapova is the only player to pull off that feat, with her 2006 and 2013 glory runs.

Among all women, Davenport has reached the most finals (six) and won the most matches (47), with Azarenka having the most wins among active WTA players (34).

Navratilova remains the oldest champion, having won aged 34 in 1991, while Martina Hingis and Serena Williams won as 17-year-olds in 1998 and 1999.

Shocks can happen: Bianca Andreescu took the title as a wildcard in 2019, while Jenny Byrne reached the final as a qualifier in 1989, the first year the women's event was staged.

If there is to be a teenage women's finalist this time, maybe it will be Coco Gauff. The American turns 19 midway through the tournament, on March 13, and has yet to reach a WTA 1000 final, although she got to the French Open title match last year, where Swiatek inflicted a heavy defeat.

Perhaps Aryna Sabalenka can reprise her Australian Open form, having won a first major in Melbourne. But Sabalenka's record in Indian Wells is a rough one, with the Belarusian yet to go past the fourth round.

Strap in for a thrill ride. They all want to stop Swiatek, but if any player can defy history it might just be the Pole.

Santiago's own Nicolas Jarry thrilled his hometown crowd with a stirring come-from-behind 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 triumph in Sunday's Chile Open final against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Jarry, 27, had not made it through to an ATP final since his first and only title win at the 2019 Swedish Open, but the wait was worth it as the Santiago crowd treated him like royalty.

There were no breaks of serve in the opening set, and only one opportunity, but Jarry found himself a set down for the second match in a row after falling short in the tiebreaker.

But just like he did in his semi-final comeback against Jaume Munar, Jarry dug in and quickly ran out to a 3-0 lead in the second set.

It was short-lived, as Etcheverry rallied back to tie things up and force another tiebreaker, when Jarry turned around a 4-2 deficit and rattled off three important points in a row to gain the ascendancy, successfully serving it out to take things to a decider.

After posting an accurate first serve percentage of at least 67 per cent in each of the first two sets, Etcheverry fell apart in the third, landing only 36 per cent of his first serves fair, and winning just half (11-of-22) of his total service points.

Meanwhile, when it mattered most, Jarry's serve became overwhelming, winning 94 per cent (16-of-17) of his service points to slam the door shut on his Argentine challenger.

Alex de Minaur secured his first ATP 500 title on Saturday after coming from behind to defeat Tommy Paul 3-6 6-4 6-1 in the Mexican Open final.

It was a tremendous week in Acapulco for the Australian, having eliminated world number 10 Holger Rune in the semi-final en route to his seventh title overall, with the first six all at the ATP 250 level.

Against Paul, De Minaur blew a pair of break points in the opening set, and then gave up the break in the very next game, allowing the American to serve things out safely to take the first frame.

But mistakes started to creep into Paul's game the longer the match went. After landing 75 per cent of his first serves fair in the opener and avoiding any double-faults, Paul's first serve percentage dropped to 46 in the second, and he committed a pair of doubles.

He committed another two double-faults in the decider to hand De Minaur the early break, and his play from the baseline also deteriorated, hitting just six winners to go with 14 unforced errors.

Known for his resilience, De Minaur had to save five break points to hold serve in the opening game of the third set, but he held his nerve, and churned out five consecutive games as Paul ran out of gas.

The 500 ranking points will see the Aussie climb to 18th in the world, with his career-best mark of 15th now within reach.

Meanwhile, the fairytale continued for Nicolas Jarry at the Chile Open, with the Santiago-born talent electrifying his home crowd with a 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 semi-final victory over Jaume Munar.

Jarry will get a chance for the second ATP title of his career, and the first since 2019, when he meets Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the final.

Etcheverry emerged victorious 7-5 6-3 in an all-Argentine showdown against third seed Sebastian Baez, earning his first final appearance at this level.

Alex De Minaur secured his first ATP 500 title on Saturday after coming from behind to defeat Tommy Paul 3-6 6-4 6-1 in the Mexican Open final.

It was a tremendous week in Acapulco for the Australian, having eliminated world number 10 Holger Rune in the semi-final en route to his seventh title overall, with the first six all at the ATP 250 level.

Against Paul, De Minaur blew a pair of break points in the opening set, and then gave up the break in the very next game, allowing the American to serve things out safely to take the first frame.

But mistakes started to creep into Paul's game the longer the match went. After landing 75 per cent of his first serves fair in the opener and avoiding any double-faults, Paul's first serve percentage dropped to 46 in the second, and he committed a pair of doubles.

He committed another two double-faults in the decider to hand De Minaur the early break, and his play from the baseline also deteriorated, hitting just six winners to go with 14 unforced errors.

Known for his resilience, De Minaur had to save five break points to hold serve in the opening game of the third set, but he held his nerve, and churned out five consecutive games as Paul ran out of gas.

The 500 ranking points will see the Aussie climb to 18th in the world, with his career-best mark of 15th now within reach.

Meanwhile, the fairytale continued for Nicolas Jarry at the Chile Open, with the Santiago-born talent electrifying his home crowd with a 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 semi-final victory over Jaume Munar.

Jarry will get a chance for the second ATP title of his career, and the first since 2019, when he meets Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the final.

Etcheverry emerged victorious 7-5 6-3 in an all-Argentine showdown against third seed Sebastian Baez, earning his first final appearance at this level.

Daniil Medvedev landed a third title in three weeks by swatting aside fellow Russian Andrey Rublev in the Dubai Tennis Championships final.

Former world number one Medvedev won 6-2 6-2 in an hour and eight minutes, adding to recent victories in Rotterdam and Doha as he extended his winning streak to 14 matches.

It gave him a tour-leading 19th match win of the season, edging ahead of Britain's Cameron Norrie, and means Medvedev will vault above Rublev to reach sixth in the new ATP rankings.

Appearing in his 30th tour-level final, Medvedev picked up his 18th career title and improved his head-to-head advantage to 5-2 against his compatriot.

He broke serve in the first and seventh games to sweep through the opening set, serving out to love to clinch it, and Rublev, who was the defending champion, offered no greater resistance in the second.

After beating Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, this was supremely clinical from Medvedev, setting him up for tilts at the Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami over the coming weeks.

"It's amazing," said Medvedev in an on-court interview, "because the start of the year was not perfect."

He lost in round three of the Australian Open to Sebastian Korda, but has put that January jolt firmly behind him.

"In tennis, when you don't win tournaments, you are always doubting, no matter what happens in practice," Medvedev said. "So I was doubting a lot and now it just feels better. I was really happy with these three weeks and I'm looking forward to the next ones.

"Sometimes you feel you're doing all the right shots and you're losing matches, and sometimes you kind of don't even think, just go it, go for some crazy stuff. A lot of shots this tournament were landing which were maybe not supposed to be, and when confidence is going sometimes that helps a lot."

Medvedev's win makes him the third player in the last two years to land three titles in as many weeks, the ATP said, after Casper Ruud in July 2021 and Felix Auger-Aliassime.in October 2022.

Novak Djokovic was waiting on Saturday to learn whether he would get last-minute clearance to enter the United States to play at Indian Wells and Miami, as American tennis chiefs threw support behind the world number one.

US senator Rick Scott claimed Djokovic has been refused permission by the US Department of Homeland Security for a vaccine waiver and urged president Joe Biden to intervene on behalf of the Serbian and "fix this NOW".

Scott was backed by fellow senator Marco Rubio, who wrote on Twitter: "@DjokerNole [Djokovic] shouldn’t be prohibited from playing in the @MiamiOpen because of unconstitutional vaccine mandates.

"@POTUS [Biden] should immediately grant Djokovic a waiver to the vaccine mandate for international travellers."

Djokovic has refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and that stance has cost him places in two grand slam tournaments, being deported before last year's Australian Open and then denied permission to compete at the US Open later in the season.

It has also meant he has had to miss regular tour events in the United States, which demands international travellers are fully vaccinated.

Scott and Rubio are both senators for Florida, and accordingly their focus is on the Miami Open, which runs from March 22 to April 2.

More pressingly for the 35-year-old Djokovic, the Indian Wells tournament begins in the coming week, with main draw singles matches getting under way on Wednesday.

A statement posted on the US Open Twitter page confirmed support for the 22-time grand slam winner.

It read: "Novak Djokovic is one [of] the greatest champions our sport has ever seen.

"The USTA and US Open are hopeful that Novak is successful in his petition to enter the country, and that the fans will be able to see him back in action at Indian Wells and Miami."

Seventh seed Tommy Paul claimed a spot in the Mexican Open final after proving too good for countryman Taylor Fritz in the longest match in Acapulco history on Friday.

Paul edged the third seed 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-2) in three hours and 29 minutes in their semi-final clash in Acapulco.

World number 23 Paul actually generated a match point late in the second set but spurned his initial chance, then waiting another two hours before winning in the third-set tie-break.

Paul let match point slip at 5-4 in the second set and had to rally back from 3-1 down in the third, but triumphed on his fourth match point.

"I couldn't be happier," Paul said. "The goal for this year was to get the ranking up and get more trophies. I only have one trophy on Tour between singles and doubles.

"You don't get trophies unless your in the final, and hopefully I can play another good match tomorrow and get the winner's trophy."

The 2023 Australian Open semi-finalist will take on Alex de Minaur in Saturday's decider, after he defeated Holger Rune 3-6 7-5 6-2 in two hours and 50 minutes.

In the Chile Open, local Nicolas Jarry progressed into the semi-finals with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann. Jarry will face Spaniard Jaume Munar after he won 6-3 3-6 6-2 over Thiago Monteiro.

Third seed Sebastian Baez got past Laslo Djere 7-6 (7-4) 6-4, setting up a semi-final date with Tomas Martin Etcheverry after he won 6-1 6-2 over Dusan Lajovic.

Daniil Medvedev denied Novak Djokovic a 21st consecutive win to set up an all-Russian final against Andrey Rublev at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Djokovic had started 2023 by coming out on top in all 15 of his matches and winning the Australian Open, with his overall winning streak standing at 20 games.

But Medvedev ended the world number one's perfect start to the year with a superb display to take a 6-4 6-4 triumph on Friday.

The 27-year-old, who himself made it 13 consecutive wins, broke Djokovic twice on the way to taking the opening set.

Medvedev's high standard of play continued in the second, breaking Djokovic in the first game before holding in all five of his service games to secure a straight-sets victory.

"When you play against Novak you just have to play your best," Medvedev said after the win. "Kind of hope he doesn't play his best on the day because when he plays his best, well he has 22 grand slams, so even if you play your best, it is going to be tough, not sure you win.

"I managed to play a higher level than him today. In the second set I didn't face one break point, but there were so many 30-30 games. But I managed to stay composed and I am happy to be in the final tomorrow."

His win means he will face countryman Rublev in the final after the reigning champion kept his hopes of retaining the title alive with a 6-3 7-6 (11-9) success over Alexander Zverev.

Rublev had never previously won a match or set against Zverev in five previous meetings, but won three of the German's service games in the opener to go a set ahead.

The second seed was out-aced nine to two in the second set but managed to force a tie-break, going on to survive a set point before eventually securing the win on his sixth match point.

Rublev will look to join Roger Federer and Djokovic as only the third repeat champion at the tournament when he takes on Medvedev in Saturday's final.

The compatriots have met six times previously with Medvedev winning four of them, though Rublev has taken victory in their last two match-ups.

World number five Taylor Fritz showed why he is the highest seed still standing at the Mexican Open after a strong 6-3 6-4 win in Thursday's quarter-final.

Fritz, the third seed, faced sixth seed and world number 15 Frances Tiafoe, and did not allow a single break of serve en route to the 96-minute victory.

He will now face compatriot Tommy Paul in an all-American semi-final after the world number 23 prevailed 6-2 6-2 against Mackenzie McDonald.

The win was Paul's 10th from his past 12 matches, with one of those two losses coming against Novak Djokovic.

Australia's Alex De Minaur is through to the other semi-final after making light work of Japan's Taro Daniel 6-2 6-2 in a surprisingly one-sided contest, considering Daniel was coming off a victory over world number four Casper Ruud.

De Minaur will face Holger Rune after the 19-year-old capitalised on Matteo Berrettini not being at 100 per cent, jumping out to a perfect 6-0 1-0 start before the Italian retired hurt.

Meanwhile, Chile Open second seed Francisco Cerundolo missed out on a potential chance to face his younger brother after going down 6-3 3-6 6-3 against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

He was one win away from doing his part to set up a quarter-final showdown with Juan Manuel Cerundolo, but the 21-year-old Argentine also did not hold up his end of the bargain, falling 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-2) to Serbia's Dusan Lajovic.

Laslo Djere ensured it would be a good day for the Serbians with a 7-5 7-5 handling of Italy's Riccardo Bonadio, and he will face third seed Sebastian Baez in the quarter-final after he eliminated hometown hero Cristian Garin 6-4 6-3.

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