INDIAN WELLS, California: Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz blew past Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday to reach the Indian Wells quarterfinals, keeping his bid for a rare three-peat on course.

The world No. 3 from Spain defied the difficult windy conditions on Stadium Court to deliver a dominant performance against a player who had won their past two encounters — including in the quarterfinals at the Miami Open last year.

Alcaraz took another step in his bid to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win three straight Indian Wells titles.

Alcaraz appeared largely untroubled by the gusty winds that had ball kids scampering after blowing trash and changed the trajectories of some shots.

“Today with the conditions, it was really tough for both,” he said. “I had to survive. I always say in these conditions, you have to survive no matter what. I’m very happy that I was able to play long rallies. I got a good rhythm, even with the conditions.”

Alcaraz didn’t face a break point until the fifth game of the second set, and worked his way out of that jam with an ace on Dimitrov’s third break chance.

Alcaraz polished it off in style, giving himself a match point with his sixth ace of the match and sealing the win with a forehand winner.

He will play Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the semifinals. Cerundolo beat world No. 10 Alex de Minaur of Australia 7-5, 6-3.

Britain’s Jack Draper delivered a masterclass to stun 2022 champion Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-4.

Draper won seven straight games to seize a 7-5, 4-0 lead over the world number four. Fritz gave him some tense moments with a late break of serve before Draper served it out on his second opportunity.

“It is the best match I have played here so far in the three years I have been here,” Draper said.

Draper next faces Ben Shelton, who became the only American man in the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 victory over compatriot Brandon Nakashima.

The only US woman in the last eight is Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who battled past Donna Vekic 4-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 to book a meeting with resurgent Belinda Bencic, who ousted third-ranked American Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

On the back foot early, Keys failed to convert a set point in the 10th game of the second set and was two points from defeat in the tiebreaker when Vekic took a 5-3 lead.

Keys gutted out the breaker and gave herself some breathing room when she broke the Croatian to open the third.

“At some point, I just felt like it was ‘do or die,’ probably five-all in the second-set tiebreaker,” Keys said.

“I kind of just decided that I was going to go for a little bit more, and (I’m) really happy to be able to get that match and get that win and play another match here.”

Bencic also had to rally to reach her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since becoming a mother last year.

She dominated Gauff to avenge a fourth-round loss to the American at the Australian Open this year.

Bencic, who was unranked when she returned to the tour in October, claimed her ninth career title in Abu Dhabi last month and has risen to 58th in the world.

She said her improving fitness was a factor in her ability to best Gauff in three sets this time, when she couldn’t back in January.

“What changed is that I just kept on working also on the physical side,” Bencic said. “The body is holding up much better, almost like it was before.”

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus got past an early hiccup, dropping her serve in the opening game before rolling to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over British lucky loser Sonay Kartal.

Sabalenka will next face 24th-ranked Russian Liudmila Samsonova, who surprised world No. 6 Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-0, 6-4.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida: The 25 newcomers to The Players Championship probably won’t take much solace in hearing that only one player — Craig Perks in 2002 — has conquered the diabolical Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass in his debut over the last four decades.

Just as curious is the case of Scottie Scheffler. Last year he became the first player in the history of this championship to win in consecutive years.

Tiger Woods for all his greatness won it only twice. Phil Mickelson won in 2007 and some eight years later after missing the cut said, “I can’t believe I’ve actually won here.”

The PGA Tour’s premier event — it has been referred to as the “fifth major” — begins Thursday with the same level of intrigue. There are great players. There are players in great form. But anything goes over the next four days.

The secret to Sawgrass?

“Playing good,” said Scheffler, who last year had to make up a five-shot deficit with a sore neck by holing out for eagle on the fourth hole on his way to a 64.

“You can’t fake it around this place,” Scheffler said. “I think there’s a lot of genius in the way the golf course is designed. There is some volatility in terms of the hazard. That provides a lot of volatility for how the golf course can play, especially in high wind.

“It doesn’t suit one type of player,” he said. “It’s not a horses-for-courses-type place. It’s just the guys that are playing the best are going to be on the leaderboard on Sunday.”

That sounds simple enough, thought that requires a view of Perks in 2002. He played great that week — turns out it was his only PGA Tour victory — but had to chip in for eagle from the edge of the 16th green, hole a long birdie putt on the 17th and then chip in for par on the 18th.

Simple.

If the island green at the par-3 17th, or water in play on all but a handful of holes isn’t enough, the PGA Tour restored the tree that hung sideways over the tee box on No. 6 that frames the shot and gives players one more thing to think about.

“I certainly have to hit it a little lower than my preferred launch window,” Rory McIlroy said.

McIlroy won in 2019 and he has three other top-10 finishes. He also has missed the cut seven times, keeping in form of other past champions.

“You just have to be so on your game here,” McIlroy said. “I think that’s the main key. It’s such a course on execution, and if you’re not executing like 100 percent, you leave yourself in spots where it’s really tough to get up-and-down. You have to hit the ball where you’re looking, and if you can do that, you can do well here.

“It’s one of the best tests of the year, for sure.”

Among the newcomers this year is Laurie Canter of England, who got plenty of attention Wednesday during the first-timer interviews because he spent parts of three years cashing in at Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

Canter was an alternate who was never in trouble with the European tour because he had limited status. And then he played beautifully enough to work his way into the top 50 in the world, the final push a runner-up finish in the South African Open.

Six others have won for the first time in the last year, three of them in 2025 — Brian Campbell (Mexico), Joe Highsmith (PGA National) and Karl Vilips (Puerto Rico).

Scheffler has a chance to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three-time winners of The Players Championship. Nicklaus won his three before it moved to the TPC Sawgrass in 1982.

The Masters champion is still waiting to hit his stride after sitting out all of January with a hand injury from trying to cut ravioli with a wine glass.

But he has been on an amazing run, capped off by his nine-win season in 2025, winning back-to-back at The Players and building such a big lead at No. 1 in the world that he is assured of being atop the ranking for two straight years. No one except Woods has done that.

“Scottie is the closest thing to Tiger I think any of us have seen,” Wyndham Clark said. “He not only is the No. 1 player in the world, he embraces it, and he shows up every week and almost wins or is in contention or does win. It’s very impressive.

“I think he’s kind of the mark we’re all trying to get to, and I have nothing but respect for everything that Scottie is doing, and I love that it doesn’t affect him,” Clark said. “It hasn’t gone to his head. He just continues to be Scottie and goes about his way.”