Sinner sets up Fonseca clash, Zverev advances as Gauff retires with injury to send Eala through at Indian Wells

World number two Jannik Sinner took another step toward a first Indian Wells Masters title on Sunday, easing past Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2 to reach the fourth round and a clash with exciting Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca.

After dropping just two games in his second-round opener against Czech qualifier Dalibor Svrcina, Sinner was caught napping to drop his serve in the opening game.

He responded with confidence against a potentially tricky opponent known for producing winners.

Sinner quickly recouped the break and grabbed another in the eighth game.

With one set in his pocket Sinner was in full control in the second, opening with a break on the way to a 5-2 lead and closing it out with a love game.

Sinner faces the 19-year-old Fonseca for a place in the quarter-finals.

Fonseca, who saved two match points in his second-round victory over Karen Khachanov, beat another seeded player, American Tommy Paul, 6-2, 6-3.

Fonseca brought the heat, displaying thunderous groundstrokes as he reached the fourth round of a Masters 1000 for the first time.

He said he was eager for the chance to test himself against four-time major winner Sinner.

Fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev held off a determined Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 6-4.

Zverev didn’t have a break point against the 30th-ranked American until the third set. He missed his first two opportunities before finally making one count, breaking Nakashima in the final game to seal the victory.

Zverev gained the upper hand in a close-run contest with a dominant first-set tiebreaker, but the American converted his fifth break chance for a 6-5 lead in the second and leveled the match with a love game.

“Definitely happy to get the win because that was a difficult match,” said Zverev, who next plays American Frances Tiafoe.

Frances Tiafoe beat Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 6-2 in a rematch of last week’s final in Acapulco won by the Italian.

Rising US talent Learner Tien knocked off eighth-seeded compatriot Ben Shelton 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-3.

Tien peppered big-serving Shelton with 15 aces while Shelton, apparently still feeling the effects of the illness that slowed him in a second-round win over Reilly Opelka, produced just eight.

Meanwhile, Coco Gauff retired from her third-round match at Indian Wells on Sunday with a “scary” left arm injury that “felt like it was on fire” but was optimistic she could sort out the problem in time to play in Miami.

The 21-year-old world number four was trailing Alexandra Eala 6-2, 2-0 when the American called it a day, sending the rising star from the Philippines into the last 16.

It’s just the second time Gauff has retired during a match, the first coming back in 2022 against Marie Bouzkova in Cincinnati.

“I’d rather finish the match and lose 6-0, but at that point I just felt that because the pain was getting worse and I didn’t know what was going on, I just felt it was better to stop,” she said.

Gauff was trailing 5-2 in the first set when she took a medical timeout for treatment on her arm.

A trainer worked on Gauff’s shoulder and arm and after she was broken in the final game of the opening set, returned to wrap her forearm.

It was to no avail, and Gauff went to the net and told Eala she was calling it a day after 54 minutes.

Eala, 20, shot to prominence last year with a surprise semi-final run at the Miami Open, where she beat Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys.

At the US Open in August she became the first player from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam singles match.

She fell in the first round at the Australian Open but her adoring fans created a sensation in Melbourne, mobbing her practice sessions as well as her first ever main-draw match in the event.

Agencies