Indian Wells 2024: Gauff, Fritz lead five Americans into fourth round
As the 2024 BNP Paribas Open enters its second week, five American singles stars are still standing on home soil. Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro both advanced to the women's fourth round, while Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul are among the last 16 in the men's draw.
Three of those Americans have Top 10 showdowns to look forward to in Indian Wells: Navarro will meet second seed Aryna Sabalenka for a place in the quarterfinals, while Shelton faces reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner and Fritz takes on seventh seed Holger Rune.
Gauff wins last match as a teenager
Gauff beat Italy's Lucia Bronzetti, 6-2, 7-6(5), on Monday to ensure she would be playing on her 20th birthday this Wednesday. She saved 10 of 11 break points in the match, including nine in her first three service games.
After losing the opening set of her Indian Wells campaign against Clara Burel, Gauff has now won four consecutive sets—including tiebreak wins to close out both of her matches.
"It means a lot to come from the long match in the first [match] and be able to close it in straight sets in the second," said Gauff, who received a bye into the second round to start the tournament. "Hopefully I can keep building on that."
Gauff did her part to set up a showdown with Naomi Osaka in the last 16, but Elise Mertens knocked off the Japanese star. The Belgian will now seek her first win against Gauff, who has beaten her in each of their previous three matchups across three surfaces.
Navarro scored her second consecutive three-set win against a Ukrainian on Monday, beating 16th seed Elina Svitolina 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. The 22-year-old previously battled back from a set down against Lesia Tsurenko in her opening match.
Next up for Navarro is a first meeting with two-time reigning Australian Open champion Sabalenka, who beat 2021 US Open titlist Emma Raducanu in the third round.
Shelton comes up clutch
After a comeback three-set win against Jakub Mensik in his opening match, Shelton survived a final-set tiebreak to beat Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(5) in a thriller that extended late into the night on Sunday.
“Definitely a crazy match tonight. I heard the curfew was early here in Palm Springs,” Shelton said in his on-court interview. “But you guys showed out tonight, so thanks everyone for staying, I know me and Fran really appreciate it.”
Shelton's next task is to stop Sinner's 17-match winning streak. The Italian has won both events he's entered this season (Australian Open, Rotterdam) and could move ahead of Carlos Alcaraz for world No. 2 by matching or bettering the Spaniard's result in Indian Wells.
The 21-year-old Shelton is relishing his matchup with the 22-year-old Italian: "Let's get it!" he said when asked about the pair's impending third meeting. They split two encounters in 2023, with Shelton on top in Shanghai and Sinner the winner in Vienna.
It has been a more straightforward drive through the desert draw for Fritz and Paul, neither of whom have dropped a set in two victories.
Fritz, the 2022 Indian Wells champ, beat Alejandro Tabilo and then 19th seed Sebastian Baez to reach the fourth round. Paul got past compatriot Alex Michelsen and 14th seed Ugo Humbert to kickstart his campaign. Lined up to meet Novak Djokovic in the last 16, Paul will instead be the favorite against 20-year-old Italian Luca Nardi, who stunned the world No. 1 on Monday night.
With two more wins apiece, Fritz and Paul could set up an all-American semifinal showdown.
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