{"id":527712,"date":"2026-03-09T00:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T00:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/527712\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T00:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T00:02:11","slug":"indian-wells-2026-day-4-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/527712\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Wells 2026 Day 4 Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 4 at Indian Wells saw the tournament move into full swing, with the top seeds in action, the wind making life awkward, and the Round of 64 delivering a mix of routine wins and hard-fought comebacks.<\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz cruised past Grigor Dimitrov to maintain his clinical start to the season, while Novak Djokovic shook off a set of rust and the gusts to win his first match since the Australian Open final.<\/p>\n

Jo\u00e3o Fonseca thrilled the fans on Stadium 3 with a great escape that included saving match points, and Gabriel Diallo landed one of the biggest punches of his draw so far by knocking out Andrey Rublev in a three-hour clash.<\/p>\n

Throw in Taylor Fritz surviving four match points, De Minaur fighting past Korda, and Draper\u2019s mid-match reset, and you have an interesting day\u2019s play.<\/p>\n

Here are all the results, key matches, and what\u2019s coming up on Day 5.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

(1) Carlos Alcaraz
\nGrigor Dimitrov
\n6-2, 6-3<\/p>\n

(26) Arthur Rinderknech
\nJuan Manuel Cerundolo
\nW\/O<\/p>\n

(24) Valentin Vacherot
\nNuno Borges
\n7-5, 7-5<\/p>\n

(13) Casper Ruud
\nAlexander Shevchenko
\n6-1, 7-6(4)<\/p>\n

(10) Alexander Bublik
\nV\u00edt Kop\u0159iva (LL)
\n3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2<\/p>\n

Rinky Hijikata (Q)
\n(20) Luciano Darderi
\n4-6, 6-2, 6-4<\/p>\n

(27) Cameron Norrie
\nMackenzie McDonald (Q)
\n6-2, 6-3<\/p>\n

(6) Alex de Minaur
\nSebastian Korda
\n4-6, 6-4, 6-4<\/p>\n

(3) Novak Djokovic
\nKamil Majchrzak
\n4-6, 6-1, 6-2<\/p>\n

Aleksandar Kovacevic
\n(31) Corentin Moutet
\n6-1, 6-4<\/p>\n

(19) Francisco Cerundolo
\nBenjamin Bonzi (Q)
\n6-4, 5-7, 7-6(5)<\/p>\n

(14) Jack Draper
\nRoberto Bautista Agut
\n3-6, 6-3, 6-2<\/p>\n

(11) Daniil Medvedev
\nAlejandro Tabilo
\n6-4, 6-2<\/p>\n

Sebastian Baez
\n(22) Jiri Lehecka
\n6-4, 6-1<\/p>\n

Alex Michelsen
\n(32) Ugo Humbert
\n7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(6)<\/p>\n

(7) Taylor Fritz
\nJacob Fearnley
\n6-3, 6-7(8), 6-1<\/p>\n

Gabriel Diallo
\n(17) Andrey Rublev
\n6-7(4), 7-6(1), 6-3<\/p>\n

Joao Fonseca
\n(16) Karen Khachanov
\n4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4<\/p>\n

Key Matches<\/p>\n

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

(1) Carlos Alcaraz def. Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-3<\/p>\n

Alcaraz delivered a rock-solid second-round performance in 66 minutes, extending his 2026 win streak to 13 matches.<\/p>\n

Given Dimitrov\u2019s level of late, it was hard to see Alcaraz being tested, and he dominated from the baseline with pinpoint forehands despite blustery winds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alcaraz called the conditions tough but was thrilled: \u201cI adapted my game better\u2026 I\u2019m really, really happy.\u201d He leads the H2H 5-2, and I only see that being extended should the two meet again this year.<\/p>\n

Next: 26th seed Arthur Rinderknech (5-0 H2H), who advanced via a walkover from Juan Manuel Cerundolo (left leg injury).<\/p>\n

(3) Novak Djokovic def. Kamil Majchrzak 4-6, 6-1, 6-2<\/p>\n

Djokovic overcame rust and gusty winds in his first match since the Australian Open final loss to Alcaraz, rallying after dropping the opener.<\/p>\n

Novak has never been the best wind player, but he reset in the latter two sets with greater baseline consistency and aggression, closing in 2 hours 12 minutes.<\/p>\n

It feels strange that he hasn\u2019t been past the fourth round here since 2017, given he\u2019s won 5 times, so I\u2019m unsure if he will be a factor in the latter rounds. Next: Aleksandar Kovacevic.<\/p>\n

Joao Fonseca def. (16) Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old Brazilian produced a thrilling comeback, saving two match points in the second-set tiebreak (blasting a forehand return winner on the first, then an ace on the second). He rode the momentum to a double-break lead in the decider, finishing with 32 winners in an electric Stadium 3 atmosphere filled with Brazilian fans.<\/p>\n

Fonseca has been disappointing so far this season, and I\u2019ve often dismissed him as a hype merchant due to his financial backing\/background. But of course, he\u2019s clearly a level above the Romeo Beckham types of this world, and to see off Khachanov when facing match points is impressive.<\/p>\n

Next: Tommy Paul<\/p>\n

Gabriel Diallo def. (17) Andrey Rublev 6-7(4), 7-6(1), 6-3<\/p>\n

A big upset as the Canadian (world No. 38) rallied from dropping the first-set tiebreak, winning the next two in nearly three hours.<\/p>\n

Diallo fired 12 aces and 40 winners (with 44 unforced errors), saving 3\/5 break points and converting 4\/7.<\/p>\n

Diallo has had a poor start to 2026 (after a solid 2025), whereas Rublev had strong recent form but couldn\u2019t maintain it. Diallo advances to face fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime next.<\/p>\n

Other notables from Day 4<\/p>\n

(6) Alex de Minaur def. Sebastian Korda 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 \u2014 A bet buster for me as De Minaur rallied from a set down in a tight all-action clash.
\n(7) Taylor Fritz def. Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-1 \u2014 The 2022 champion saved four match points (two on serve at 5-4, two in the tiebreak) before dominating the decider:
\n(11) Daniil Medvedev def. Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-2 \u2014 Efficient progress.
\n(14) Jack Draper def. Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 \u2014 Defending champ overcomes slow start.<\/p>\n

Highlights<\/p>\n

Indian Wells 2026 Day 5 Round of 32 Matches<\/p>\n

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

(8) Ben Shelton vs (25) Learner Tien
\n(18) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs (12) Jakub Mensik
\n(15) Flavio Cobolli vs (21) Frances Tiafoe
\nMarton Fucsovics vs (30) Arthur Fils
\nGabriel Diallo vs (9) Felix Auger-Aliassime
\nBrandon Nakashima vs (4) Alexander Zverev
\nJoao Fonseca vs (23) Tommy Paul
\nDenis Shapovalov vs (2) Jannik Sinner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Day 4 at Indian Wells saw the tournament move into full swing, with the top seeds in action,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-527712","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\/527712","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=527712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}