Alex Michelsen continued a strong run at the BNP Paribas Open by defeating No. 7 seed Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6 (6) to reach the tournament’s fourth round. The win marked a career-best result for Michelsen at a Sunshine Swing event and kept pace with his friend and fellow Southern California rising star Learner Tien, who had advanced earlier with an upset of Ben Shelton.

The pair are closely linked as contemporaries from the same competitive Southern California circuit, and Michelsen said Tien’s result gave him extra motivation ahead of his match with Fritz.

Q. Seeing Learner beat Ben yesterday, did that in any way fire you up to come out on this one?

ALEX MICHELSEN: I mean, yeah, a little bit. I was super happy for him. I talked to him after the match. I was texting him, and he texted me after I won today.

Yeah, it’s always nice when we try and go like this to each other, try and one-up each other. He’s definitely beating me right now, so I have to catch him eventually. It’s really fun.

We’re both doing super well at the same tournament. Doesn’t happen very often, but we’re enjoying it a lot, and we’re rooting for each other, for sure.

Q. You and Learner both came up through kind of the cauldron of the Southern California very competitive section. Give me some thoughts on how that helped you become a pro player.

ALEX MICHELSEN: Growing up, everyone in our section was super, super good. Learner was always at the top. He was at the top since he was 12. I wasn’t always at the top.

There were so many good guys. A lot of them I’m still friends with, because we played the same tournaments for years and years. I think that really helped my development. You don’t have to travel a lot. If you’re from Nebraska, you’ve got to go somewhere else, right?

I was super lucky, never really had to drive more than an hour to tournaments growing up. Great competition, great training. Got super lucky there.

Tien is closing in on a Top 20 debut after kicking off the year with a run to the Australian Open quarterfinals. Michelsen is not far behind: he reached a career-high of No. 30 in the ATP rankings last summer following his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal at the National Bank Open in Toronto.

Lululemon’s first year as the official outfitter at the BNP Paribas Open has been visible on court and throughout the grounds. The Canadian-based brand, which signed Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe to multi-year apparel deals in the last four years, took on a broad role at the combined ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event after being announced in a multi-year agreement last November.

The company supplied more than 2,000 volunteers, ball kids and officials with uniforms, enlarged its merchandise section in the official tournament store and opened a standalone retail presence and pop-up experience anchored by the viral La La Land Kind Cafe. Lululemon branding has become a constant around the site in Indian Wells.

On court the outfitter also introduced new wearable technology. After wearing a Sierra Leone-inspired kit at the Australian Open in tribute to his parents’ birth country, Frances Tiafoe is wearing a berry-hued ensemble the brand calls “Burgundy Bay.” Lululemon says those clothes use a new ShowZero sweat-resistant technology and describes it as “an innovative yarn technology that changes how light interacts with the fabric, preventing light absorption when wet so sweat remains virtually invisible.” The company promotes the fabric as breathable, quick-drying and ultra-lightweight, engineered to support high-intensity performance.

Tiafoe spoke about his relationship with the brand after his victory over No. 15 seed Flavio Cobolli, a win that avenged Cobolli’s recent Acapulco final result. “It’s been great to be a part of it … all the things they have been doing with me,” he said. “They were super excited to have me and also grow with me and get more into the game.” He added that the outfitter’s presentation in Tennis Paradise is appealing: the “whole vibe” is “super cool and super trendy.”

On the retail side, Tiafoe noted the fan response: “Obviously you see it here, all the staff and everyone wearing it. My outfit is selling out, they said. The getup is great. All the outfits they have been making are super innovative. It’s just been really cool,” he said.

Novak Djokovic said a recent off-day at Indian Wells offered an uncommon break from his on-court rivalries. He described a round of golf with Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev as relaxed and competitive in equal measure.

“It was my first time to play with those guys,” Djokovic explained of a golf outing with Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev. “It was fun, a lot of laughter, a lot of mind games. But it was good.” He acknowledged the gap between his tennis and his golfing ability. “I don’t play as much as I used to,” Djokovic said, adding a wry observation about Alcaraz’s power. “I show up and the guy rips a 300-yard drive, par five, and he’s going for his eagle. I’m like, ‘Is there anything you’re not good at, man?’ What’s going on here, it’s like raw power. He loves his golf.

“It was nice to spend time with these guys. We’re all big rivals but it’s nice we get along well, can play other sports and spend some good time off the court.”

Djokovic reached the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open after a three-set victory over Aleksandar Kovacovic, an American with Serbian roots. He enters the next phase of the tournament as the No. 3 seed and will next face defending champion Jack Draper.

Away from the tour, Djokovic has taken in other winter sports following a February trip to watch the Winter Olympics in Milan. “We’re currently living in Athens, in Greece, and there’s not much ice there,” joked Djokovic, whose 8-year-old daughter Tara has expressed interest in figure skating. “I was really blown away by how inspired she was and by watching the great athletes on that rink live for the first time. It’s a beautiful sport to watch on TV, but in person, it’s incredible.”

On his preparation, Djokovic said he relies on technology and daily routines to maintain form and manage recovery. Though he joked the biggest gift would be “getting back the years,” he stressed the pragmatic demands of the draw. “I’m trying to manage my body, my mental state on a daily basis so I can be peaking as much as I possibly can. There’s a challenge, an obstacle across the net of who you get to play, and that’s not going to get easier from here. The opponents are only going to get tougher,” he said.