{"id":525641,"date":"2026-03-07T23:55:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T23:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/525641\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T23:55:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T23:55:12","slug":"indian-wells-2026-day-3-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/525641\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Wells 2026 Day 3 Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 3 at Indian Wells saw the seeds enter the fray, with a mix of shocks, survival acts, and ruthless statement wins.<\/p>\n

M\u00e1rton Fucsovics blew a hole in the bracket by taking out fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton escaped a big-serve ambush from Reilly Opelka in a match that swung on a handful of points, and Alexander Zverev produced one of his cleanest performances to shut down Matteo Berrettini before the Italian could make it messy.<\/p>\n

At the top end, Jannik Sinner arrived in full \u201cbusiness trip\u201d mode; a 64-minute dismissal that instantly puts everyone on notice he\u2019s here to capture leg 1 of the Sunshine Double.<\/p>\n

Here are all the results, the key matches, and what to watch heading into Day 4.<\/p>\n

Day Three 2026 BNP Paribas Open Round of 64 Results<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"indian<\/p>\n

Winner
\nLoser
\nScoreline<\/p>\n

Marton Fucsovics
\n(5) Lorenzo Musetti
\n7-5, 6-1<\/p>\n

(9) Felix Auger-Aliassime
\nGael Monfils (WC)
\n6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4<\/p>\n

(8) Ben Shelton
\nReilly Opelka
\n6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-3<\/p>\n

(21) Frances Tiafoe
\nJenson Brooksby
\n6-4, 6-2<\/p>\n

(18) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
\nZachary Svajda (WC)
\n7-6(0), 6-2<\/p>\n

(12) Jakub Mensik
\nMarcos Giron
\n7-5, 7-6(4)<\/p>\n

(15) Flavio Cobolli
\nMiomir Kecmanovic
\n3-6, 6-3, 6-4<\/p>\n

(4) Alexander Zverev
\nMatteo Berrettini
\n6-3, 6-4<\/p>\n

Denis Shapovalov
\n(29) Tomas Martin Etcheverry
\n6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5)<\/p>\n

(30) Arthur Fils
\nDino Prizmic (Q)
\n6-2, 3-2 ret.<\/p>\n

Brandon Nakashima (28)
\nCamilo Ugo Carabelli
\n6-3, 6-4<\/p>\n

(25) Learner Tien
\nAdam Walton
\n7-6(3), 7-6(8)<\/p>\n

(23) Tommy Paul
\nZizou Bergs
\n6-1, 6-2<\/p>\n

(2) Jannik Sinner
\nDalibor Svrcina (Q)
\n6-1, 6-1<\/p>\n

Key Matches<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"sinner<\/p>\n

Marton Fucsovics def. (5) Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-1<\/p>\n

A major upset as Fucsovics claimed just his second career Top 5 win (and first in nearly six years), dominating the second set after a tight opener.<\/p>\n

Musetti, returning from a psoas muscle injury that forced his retirement at the Australian Open, showed rust with 26 unforced errors. I had the Italian making the latter stages, so it\u2019s a real draw buster.<\/p>\n

Next: Arthur Fils (who advanced via retirement).<\/p>\n

(8) Ben Shelton def. Reilly Opelka 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-3<\/p>\n

Shelton survived a major scare in an all-American big-serve battle, coming back from near-defeat. He trailed 4\/5 in the second-set tiebreak (two points from loss) before Opelka faltered on serve. Shelton tumbled while serving for the match at 5-3 in the third but recovered quickly.<\/p>\n

The match lasted 2 hours and 13 minutes, with Shelton appearing physically off at times but grinding through. He called it a win despite not being at 100%: \u201cJust happy to be through\u2026 gave myself a chance to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

I watched Opelka practice with Sinner, and the conditions looked to suit him, so it\u2019s not a huge surprise to see him cause Shelton problems\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next: Learner Tien (who leads H2H 1-0).<\/p>\n

(4) Alexander Zverev def. Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-4<\/p>\n

Zverev delivered what he called his best performance of the season in a 71-minute rout, striking 19 winners to 11 unforced errors, facing zero break points, and winning 82% of second-serve points.<\/p>\n

He ended a two-match losing streak to Berrettini (leads H2H 5-3; first win since 2021 Nitto ATP Finals).<\/p>\n

Zverev pushed aggressively against Berrettini\u2019s power: \u201cI was the one being aggressive.\u201d I figure Berrettini has some doubt in his mind after he plays a physical match the round before, given his injury woes in recent years.<\/p>\n

(2) Jannik Sinner def. Dalibor Svrcina (Q) 6-1, 6-1<\/p>\n

Sinner was ruthless in his 2026 Indian Wells debut, dropping just two games in 64 minutes with heavy baseline striking and net dominance (converted 15\/17 net points).<\/p>\n

From 1-1 in the first set, he won nine straight games. The World No. 2, seeking his first title here (best: SF 2023\/2024), felt \u201ccalm, relaxed\u201d after intense off-season training.<\/p>\n

(9) Felix Auger-Aliassime def. Gael Monfils (WC) 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4<\/p>\n

Auger-Aliassime rallied from a first-set tiebreak loss to end Monfils\u2019 entertaining run (Monfils was the second-oldest winner here at 39).<\/p>\n

Other notables from Day 3<\/p>\n

Denis Shapovalov def. (29) Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5) \u2014 Shapovalov fired 43 winners and converted 15\/22 net points for a gritty tiebreak win. Sets up Sinner clash.
\n(23) Tommy Paul def. Zizou Bergs 6-1, 6-2 \u2014 Dominant straight-sets win.
\n(21) Frances Tiafoe def. Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-2 \u2014 Efficient progress against a tricky opponent.
\n(25) Learner Tien def. Adam Walton 7-6(3), 7-6(8) \u2014 Saved set points in both tiebreaks for his first Indian Wells win.
\n(30) Arthur Fils def. Dino Prizmic (Q) 6-2, 3-2 ret. \u2014 Advanced via retirement.
\n(15) Flavio Cobolli def. Miomir Kecmanovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 \u2014 Continued his hot form (recent Acapulco title) with strong serving in the decider (13\/14 first-serve points).<\/p>\n

Highlights<\/p>\n

Indian Wells 2026 Day 4 Round of 64 Matches<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"indian<\/p>\n

(1) Carlos Alcaraz vs Grigor Dimitrov
\nJuan Manuel Cerundolo vs (26) Arthur Rinderknech
\n(24) Valentin Vacherot vs Nuno Borges
\nAlexander Shevchenko vs (13) Casper Ruud
\n(10) Alexander Bublik vs V\u00edt Kop\u0159iva (LL)
\nRinky Hijikata (Q) vs (20) Luciano Darderi
\n(27) Cameron Norrie vs Mackenzie McDonald (Q)
\nSebastian Korda vs (6) Alex de Minaur
\n(3) Novak Djokovic vs Kamil Majchrzak
\nAleksandar Kovacevic vs (31) Corentin Moutet
\n(19) Francisco Cerundolo vs Benjamin Bonzi (Q)
\nRoberto Bautista Agut vs (14) Jack Draper
\n(11) Daniil Medvedev vs Alejandro Tabilo
\nSebastian Baez vs (22) Jiri Lehecka
\nJacob Fearnley vs (7) Taylor Fritz
\n(17) Andrey Rublev vs Gabriel Diallo
\n(32) Ugo Humbert vs Alex Michelsen
\n(16) Karen Khachanov vs Joao Fonseca<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Day 3 at Indian Wells saw the seeds enter the fray, with a mix of shocks, survival acts,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-525641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}