Indian Wells 2025 Day 6 Recap

The last sixteen lineup is complete at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open, and Carlos Alcaraz looks like a big odds-on favourite to capture his third straight title at the Tennis Gardens.

The Spaniard brushed aside Denis Shapovalov in straight sets and will face Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the quarter-finals after he came through a tough 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(2) battle against Gael Monfils.

Grigor has won their last two meetings, but I think it will be a big physical ask for him, and the conditions play massively into Alcaraz’s favour, who is looking in fine fettle.

Elsewhere, the American contingent had a successful day, with Fritz, Shelton and Nakashima all progressing. They join Tommy Paul and Marcos Giron in the fourth round to give the home fans plenty of representation over the next two days.

Fritz had the closest of the three matches; his forehand hasn’t been firing of late, and he had to overcome an error-riddled first set to see off 30th seed Alejandro Tabilo.

Full results and highlights below.

Day Six 2025 BNP Paribas Open Round of 32 Results

Winner
Loser
Scoreline

Brandon Nakashima (32)
Matteo Arnaldi
6-2 6-4

Ben Shelton (11)
Karen Khachanov (22)
6-3 7-5

Jack Draper (13)
Jenson Brooksby (PR)
7-5 6-4

Taylor Fritz (3)
Alejandro Tabilo (30)
4-6 6-3 6-1

Francisco Cerundolo (25)
Botic van de Zandschulp
6-3 6-4

Alex de Minaur (9)
Hubert Hurkacz
6-4 6-0

Grigor Dimitrov (14)
Gael Monfils
7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(2)

Carlos Alcaraz (2)
Denis Shapovalov (27)
6-2 6-4

Alcaraz Sinks Shapovalov

Carlos Alcaraz continued his quest for a third straight BNP Paribas Open with a commanding 6-2, 6-4 victory over Denis Shapovalov on Monday night.

With the Spaniard ripping a 113mph forehand, he powered into the fourth round, where he will face 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, which I think will also be a straightforward day at the office.

Against Shapo, who’s enjoyed a career revival this season, Alcaraz wasted no time asserting himself, racing to a 5-0 lead in the opening set.While the Canadian found his rhythm later in the match, he could never keep down his unforced error count as Alcaraz proved pretty clinical, saving three of four break points and converting four of his eight chances.

I know he started the season really strong, showing really good tennis with the title in Dallas, playing good tennis in Acapulco, so I knew that I had to start the match really strong, really focused on my things, on the level. Try to play good tennis, good rallies at the beginning just to get the good pace, to come into the match. I saw that it was going to be a really good and difficult battle, so just really happy with the way that I started the match. Nerves are a good thing, but today I didn’t feel as much nerves as I did in the first round. Today I was more relaxed, I was calm, so I could think much better. But as I said, I think every player has nerves at the beginning of the match. It’s the way you control it, so I think today and in the first round, I did it pretty well. So hopefully it will continue like this. Alcaraz on his win.

Draper Downs Brooksby

Jack Draper is another player who gels well with conditions in Indian Wells, and he overcame a slow start en route to defeating Jenson Brooksby 7-5 and 6-4.

Brooksby, who entered via Protect Ranking, has a reputation as a very tricky customer, and he established a 4-1 lead in the first set. However, the Brit was able to recover, overcoming some early frustrations to break back and shift the momentum in his favour.

Draper’s heavy topspin forehand can do damage on this surface and that proved decisive, consistently pinning Brooksby in his backhand corner as the match wore on.

Jenson is an unorthodox player, he makes life really difficult. He doesn’t make the rhythm easy. I got off to a slow start, I missed a couple of opportunities early on. But I’m glad of the way I fought and competed. Even though it wasn’t my best tennis today, I’m really happy with the way I tried my best to stay cool Draper on Brooksby.

Other Matches of Note

Alex de Minaur cruised past Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-0 in just 75 minutes. The ninth seed was clinical, converting all four break points and saving the only one he faced. Now 15-1 against players outside the Top 20 in 2025, De Minaur faces Francisco Cerúndolo, who defeated Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4.

Taylor Fritz recovered from a slow start to battle past Alejandro Tabilo 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. The 2022 champion struggled with consistency early, racking up 43 unforced errors, but steadied his game in the final set. He now faces Jack Draper in the last sixteen.

Brandon Nakashima also impressed, eliminating Matteo Arnaldi 6-2, 6-4 in 75 minutes to reach the fourth round for the first time. The 33rd seed, coming off a semifinal run in Acapulco, faces Ben Shelton in an All-American last-sixteen clash and my prediction of him being in the top 20 looks possible.

Eleventh-seeded American Ben Shelton overcame 22nd-seeded Karen Khachanov in a composed performance. Shelton dominated the first set 6-3, using his booming serve and aggressive forehand to dictate play. The second set saw Khachanov fight back, taking a 5-3 lead. However, Shelton raised his energy levels, clawing back to level the set and eventually sealing it 7-5 after 1 hour and 35 minutes.

14th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov outlasted France’s Gael Monfils in three tiebreak-laden sets. The first set went to Dimitrov 7-6(4), with both players trading spectacular shotmaking as you’d probably expect. Monfils, who’s had an excellent start to 2025, fought back to take the second set 6-4.

The deciding set was a rollercoaster, culminating in a 7-6(2) tiebreak win for Dimi, who held his nerve in critical moments to collect his best win of the year to date. Alcaraz is next for him, but I just don’t see him holding up physically in that one, given his recent struggles.

Highlights

Indian Wells 2025 Day 7 Round of 16 Matches