Carlos Alcaraz advances to quarterfinals at Indian Wells. Jannik Sinner wins 18th straight match

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Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates after defeating Fabian Marozsan, of Hungary, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates after defeating Fabian Marozsan, of Hungary, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, serves to Fabian Marozsan, of Hungary, during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Fabian Marozsan, of Hungary, hits a return to Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates after winning a game against Fabian Marozsan, of Hungary, during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Iga Swiatek, of Poland, returns a shot to Yulia Putintseva, of Kazakhstan, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Iga Swiatek, of Poland, serves to Yulia Putintseva, of Kazakhstan, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Jasmine Paolini, of Italy, left, shakes hands with Anastasia Potapova, of Russia, after their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. Potapova won 7-5, 0-6, 6-3. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Jiri Lehecka, of Czech Republic, hits a return to Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, reacts after losing a point against Jiri Lehecka, of Czech Republic, during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Anastasia Potapova, of Russia, hits a return to Jasmine Paolini, of Italy, during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Yulia Putintseva, of Kazakhstan, returns a shot to Iga Swiatek, of Poland, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Angelique Kerber, of Germany, hits a return to Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark, during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark, hits a forehand return to Angelique Kerber, of Germany, during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz avenged a previous loss to Fabian Marozsan, winning 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open as the top remaining seed in the men’s draw.

A day after “lucky loser” Luca Nardi stunned No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the third round at Indian Wells, Alcaraz advanced easily over the Hungarian who ousted him from the Italian Open in May. Marozsan was a qualifier and the No. 135 player in the world when he upset Alcaraz — then on the verge of taking the top spot in the rankings — 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the third round in Rome.

“Honestly, I was nervous before the match. I’m not going to lie,” Alcaraz said. “Playing against someone that beat you. ... Today I knew what I had to do.”

Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner beat Ben Shelton 7-6 (4), 6-1 later Tuesday for his 18th consecutive victory. The third-ranked Italian has won 15 matches in a row to start 2024, claiming titles at Melbourne and Rotterdam. It was the 150th hard-court victory for the 22-year-old Sinner, who became first player born in the 2000s to reach that milestone.

Sinner had a set point, up 5-4 and 40-30 in the first, before Shelton was saved by a net cord. It then took Sinner another 15 minutes to close out the first set; in the second, he went up 3-0 and coasted to the victory.

Yue Yuan, of China, returns a ball from Maria Sakkari, of Greece, in their women's second round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

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Sinner advanced to the quarterfinals to play Jiri Lehecka, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Alcaraz, the defending champion at Indian Wells, dropped the first set in his opening match this year but has lost just 12 games in the other six sets. He will face Alexander Zverev, who rallied after losing the first set to Alex de Minaur and won 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.

On the women’s side, top-seeded Iga Swiatek had a 6-1, 6-2 win over Yulia Putintseva, Caroline Wozniacki beat Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-2 in a contest between two former No. 1-ranked players, Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk fended off Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-4, 6-1, and Anastasia Potapova defeated Jasmine Paolini 7-5, 0-6, 6-3.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis