3 to see men's matches In Round 3 at Indian Wells

The BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells is in full swing, and there are many intriguing Round of 32 matches. Here are three to see.

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz faces Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. This is a battle between World No. 2 and World No. 31 respectively. Auger-Aliassime owns the head-to-head record with a 3-1 advantage.

All of their matches have been played on indoor or outdoor hard courts. Alcaraz won his first career match against FAA last year at Indian Wells. It was a straight-set quarterfinal win Alcaraz collected on his way to winning his first Indian Wells title.

American men are featured in the other must-see matches

It is the battle of the 20-somethings in the Top 20. American Frances Tiafoe has not played Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas since 2022. Tiafoe recorded a win at Laver Cup over Tsitsipas to break the tie of their head-to-head ATP record. He leads 3-2. Four of their five meetings were either on indoor or outdoor hard courts.

American Sebastian Korda, ranked 29th, faces Daniil Medvedev, World No. 4. Korda, 23, has a 2-1 lead over Medvedev, 28, with two wins in 2023. One was a straight-set victory at the Australian Open in the Round of 32 that involved two close tiebreakers. The other was in the Round of 32 in Shanghai, a straight-set affair involving a tiebreaker.

In each must-see match, the underdog has the surprising lead in head-to-head action. One thing we learned from the early rounds of Indian Wells is that the conditions, balls, weather, and altitude may take time for players to adjust to, but all three of these matches should be entertaining.

Tune into the Tennis Channel (or on the TC app) for the dates and times (either Sunday or Monday) and follow the action.

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