A decade after sitting courtside and dreaming of big moments, Learner Tien translated that memory into a signature win at his home tournament. Tien defeated No. 8 seed Ben Shelton 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 to reach the Indian Wells fourth round for the first time.

“It means a lot,” Tien told reporters after his 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 win. “The court I played on today, I remember exactly where I was sitting in that same stadium when I was a kid , so it’s really cool, it’s really a full-circle moment for me. Just really special to play here and especially to win here.”

Shelton had earlier skipped the customary press conference following a second-round comeback against Reilly Opelka because he was feeling unwell. Tien acknowledged that condition but also stressed Shelton’s competitiveness. “came out not feeling 100%, but he’s an amazing competitor and he came out and gave it his all.”

On the court, Shelton leveraged his big serve to hold the initiative through much of the first set, but Tien seized the tiebreak by winning the opening three points. The third set featured exchanged holds, with each player saving a break point at the start, before Tien reeled off three straight games from 2-2 to close out the match. The match lasted two hours and 10 minutes and pushed Tien’s head-to-head record against Shelton to 2-0.

The victory continued a recent trend for Tien against higher-ranked opponents; he now has a 6-5 career mark against the game’s top players. He will face No. 18 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the fourth round and arrives with an 0-1 head-to-head deficit as he pursues his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal.

Tien emphasized his match approach regardless of ranking or reputation. “Whether I’m a favorite or whether I’m an underdog, I go out, and I don’t really think about it,” he said. “Rankings and previous matches go out the window. You’re just trying to work through the current match. Whether I’m a favorite or whether I’m not, I just go out there and I just try to compete as hard as I can.”

Jannik Sinner struck a balance between gratitude and candor after moving into the fourth round of the 2026 BNP Paribas Open. The world No. 2 spoke at length about the rewards of life on tour and the parts of the job that do not suit him.

When asked directly about what he disliked in professional tennis, Sinner did not hesitate to single out the media routines that accompany success. He explained that he values time on court and close company while acknowledging that repeated interview cycles are not his favorite activity.

Q. Jannik, you have to really love the tour life to continue doing it and enjoy most aspects of it, but I’m wondering if there is something about being in professional tennis that you really dislike?

JANNIK SINNER: Dislike?

Q. Yeah.

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, press conference (smiling), answering always the same questions.

I mean, it’s not dislike. It’s just part of the job, you know. I like to get out, play, and then live, you know.

But for me, I think we have a beautiful life, you know. We see so many great places. Obviously doing over and over every year, you know, you always go to the same places, so you know already before what kind of places you like a little bit more and some what you like slightly less.

I think we have a very nice, very nice life, very safe life also, in a way, of having great people around. I’m in a position, a very fortunate position, that I can travel with many people also, you know. Here I have a couple of friends, and it helps me so much.

So I don’t really have something what I dislike. I think it’s more just all around, you know, I’m doing this kind of here, media, I’m not the kind of guy who likes it. You know, I don’t want and I don’t need to show.

Q. The attention doesn’t align with your personality very well?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, kind of. For me, I like playing tennis, you know, and I like to spend time with the people I love and also sharing nice moments with the team. This is how I am, you know.

On court, the Italian has been efficient in the desert. Yet to drop a set at the event, he eased into the Round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Denis Shapovalov, a result that kept his run moving forward without adding to the off-court demands he prefers to avoid.

Jack Draper opened his BNP Paribas Open title defense with a determined comeback, beating Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round. Back on tour after an eight-month layoff, the No. 14 seed showed progress as he settled into the match and closed strongly to secure the victory.

The 24-year-old missed most of the 2025 season and the start of 2026 because of a left-arm injury, described as bone bruising on his serving arm. He played just one match after 2025 Wimbledon — a win over Federico Gomez in the first round at the US Open before withdrawing — and withdrew from this year’s Australian Open. Draper has since returned at Davis Cup, where his straight-sets victory over Viktor Durasovic (No. 329) helped Great Britain to a 4-0 win over Norway. He also won one match in Dubai, beating Quentin Halys before losing in three sets to Arthur Rinderknech.

A major change in Draper’s comeback has been a revised service motion. The new motion adopts a platform stance in place of the pinpoint stance he used previously, a shift intended to favor stability and balance rather than maximum power. The adjustment was overseen by coach Jamie Delgado, and Draper has also switched to natural gut strings.

“Most of it was just reflecting on my injury, to be honest,” Draper said. “I had a couple of arm injuries the last couple of years. Obviously, the one that I just had was very complex, very long, and so I had to make decisions to help my recovery. That was one of them.”

He explained the intent behind the changes: “It wasn’t about getting more power or more spin. I didn’t need any of that,” he explained. “I was at a stage with my injury where I needed to do everything I could to help my arm recover and be where I need to be.”

On Saturday Draper served 57 percent first serves to Bautista Agut’s 81 percent, but won 88 percent of points when his first serve landed and saved six of seven break points. Reflecting on match play, Draper said: “I think the one thing that maybe is taking a little bit of time is the consistency in what I’m dealing with, especially on the match court. Obviously practice is different. I feel like I have been practicing pretty well for a long time,” Draper told press in Indian Wells.

“I think the more time I actually spend on court, the better. I don’t want to be obviously playing three-set matches, but I think, for instance, today is my first Masters 1000 back. I’ve been off the tour for eight months, and so it’s been difficult getting back into it…

“I think today helped me, actually playing three sets and being able to stay out there.”

Draper will face No. 19 seed Francisco Cerundolo in the third round; Cerundolo leads their head-to-head 2-0.

© Matt Fitzgerald