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Carlos Alcaraz recently extended his respect towards Denis Shapovalov, who is on a comeback trail this year. The Spaniard and the Canadian faced off in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters last week, with the former winning in straight sets.
Alcaraz is vying for a third title victory at the BNP Paribas Open this week, having recorded triumphs at the 2023 and 2024 editions of the tournament. The World No. 3 recorded his 14th consecutive win in the Californian desert earlier on Monday (March 10), routing 27th-seeded Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4 to reach the Round of 16.
Following their second-career meeting, Denis Shapovalov took to his Instagram account the following day to look back on his positive campaign at this year's ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells. The 25-year-old also congratulated the second seed for the performance that he put in during their third-round encounter at the Palm Springs event.
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"Keep working keep learning Tough battle last night but great match @carlitosalcarazz See you next year tennis paradise," Denis Shapovalov wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.
Carlos Alcaraz replied to the former World No. 10's post soon after, expressing his admiration for his Canadian rival.
"Thanks Denis!!! Huge respecto for you!" Carlos Alcaraz wrote in the replies to the above post.
Shapovalov, meanwhile, can take pride in how his 2025 ATP Tour season has gone so far. Following a six-month injury layoff towards the end of 2023, the 25-year-old fell outside the men's top 100. However, he has worked hard since then to get back into the top 30.
The Canadian's rise in the ATP rankings was punctuated by his run at the Dallas Open in February, where he secured his third pro title in singles by beating top-10 opposition in Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, and Tommy Paul, respectively. The triumph at the 500-level event allowed him to climb from 54th to 32nd in the men's rankings.
Carlos Alcaraz to face Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the semifinals of Indian Wells Masters 2025
Carlos Alcaraz will next take on 14th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Indian Wells Masters. The Spaniard will have his work cut out against the Bulgarian if their head-to-head record is anything to go by.
Alcaraz leads Dimitrov by a slight margin of 3-2 in their tour-level encounters but has dropped both of his recent matches in their rivalry (2023 Shanghai Masters and 2024 Miami Masters). Moreover, while the former World No. 3 struggled with injuries and consistency at the beginning of the year, he has since shown impressive resurgence to reach the last eight at a tournament for the first time since the Paris Masters last October.
