Tsitsipas cruises again at Indian Wells, Popyrin ousted

Stefanos Tsitsipas has shown off his impressive athleticism and defence, leaping for overheads and speeding around the court to beat Matteo Berrettini 6-3 6-3 at Indian Wells.

The eighth seed delivered a five-star performance to beat the Italian for the second time in as many weeks. Tsitsipas, downed the 28th-ranked Berrettini in the Dubai quarter-finals en route to the title last week, and improved to 5-1 in their head-to-head series.

"I'm approaching these matches with determination and willingness to just leave it all out there on the court," said the 26-year-old Greek.

"I want to get out there on the court and be a gladiator, and that's how I approach every single match I get to play."

Tsitsipas will surpass Andrey Rublev at No.7 in the rankings with a fourth-round win over 12th-seeded Dane Holger Rune, who dug deep to beat Ugo Humbert of Poland 5-7 6-4 7-5.

"I tried to be brave," Rune said of his play over the final two games.

"The energy on this court was truly amazing."

Australia's Alexei Popyrin was also a third-round casualty, going down 5-7 6-3 6-3 to southern California native Marcos Giron.

Sydneysider Popyrin, 25, converted just one of his 15 break point chances and 31-year-old Giron reached the fourth round of the tournament for the first time.

Daniil Medvedev was on court for just 10 minutes before his American opponent Alex Michelsen was forced to retire due to illness after two games.

The Russian fifth seed has lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final the past two years, and the Spaniard is once again on the opposite side of the draw.

Medvedev will next face Tommy Paul of the US, who notched his 50th win at a Masters 1000 tournament with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Britain's Cameron Norrie.

Tallon Griekspoor toppled 29th-seeded Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard after stunning top seed Alexander Zverev in the previous round.

Dutchman Griekspoor pounded 10 aces and broke Mpetshi Perricard's mighty serve twice en route to the 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win.

Later, in one of the shocks of the tournament, Japanese 26-year-old Yosuke Watanuki, ranked No.349 in the world, stunned American 16th seed Frances Tiafoe 6-4 7-6 (8-6).

With AAP.