Gauff, Fritz upset Wednesday in fourth round of BNP Paribas Open

Update 3/12/25 11:13 p.m.

It was a star-filled Wednesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden for day two of the round of 16.

Two major upsets occurred at Stadium One, and both players were American. Wild card qualifier Belinda Bencic upset the number three seed Coco Gauff in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and the number 13 seed Jack Draper upset the number three seed Taylor Fritz in straight sets 7-5, 6-4.

While those two matches headlined the day, here are some of the other top matches.

MEN'S SINGLES

• No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz defeats No. 14 seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-1
• No. 11 seed Ben Shelton defeats No. 32 seed Brandon Nakashima 7-6, 6-1
• No. 25 seed Francisco Cerundolo upsets No. 9 seed Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-3

WOMEN'S SINGLES

• No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka defeats Sonay Kartal 6-1, 6-2
• No. 5 seed Madison Keys defeats No. 19 seed Donna Vekic 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
• No. 24 seed Liudmila Samsonova defeats No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini 6-0, 6-4

Be sure to stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open.

Update 3/12/25 5:40 p.m.

We've had a pair of upsets Wednesday during the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open. It was a particularly bad day for the three-seed, who were both eliminated on the men's and women's side.

Coco Gauff, the three-seed, is out after a shock loss to Wild card qualifier Belinda Bencic. Bencic, a former Olympic champion, won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Bencic fights on 💪@BelindaBencic powers past Gauff 3-6 6-3 6-4 for a spot in the quarterfinals. She will face the winner of Keys vs Vekic. #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/waJXAWeGvY

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 12, 2025

Another three-seed, Taylor Fritz, was also upset on Wednesday. Fritz was defeated by Jack Draper, the 13-seed.

That's a big win for @jackdraper0 👏

He topples No. 3 seed Fritz 7-5 6-4 to reach the QFs!#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/6BetIHQOgw

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 13, 2025

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Original Report 3/12/25 - 10:50 a.m.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (KESQ) - The fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open continues today, with eight more berths in the quarterfinals up for grabs.   

The men's schedule begins with an all-American showdown between No. 32 Brandon Nakashima and No. 11 Ben Shelton. Nakashima, making his first appearance in the fourth round of a Masters 1000 event, will be looking to avenge his defeat against Shelton at the Australian Open in January.

No. 25 Francisco Cerúndolo and No. 9 Alex de Minaur also met in the Australian Open, a match de Minaur won on home soil. Cerúndolo has reached six ATP tournament finals in his five-year tour career, but he has zero finals appearances on hard courts, compared to de Minaur's 15.

In the women's tournament, No. 3 Coco Gauff is also sharing the court with an opponent she defeated in Melbourne -- unseeded Belinda Bencic, the former Olympic gold medalist. Gauff reached the quarterfinals and semifinals in her last two trips to the desert, while Bencic is seeking to advance past the fourth round for the first time in six years.   

No. 5 Madison Keys and No. 19 Donna Vekic, both relatively aggressive baseliners, last played each other in 2019. Keys will be looking to replicate her Australian Open success, while Vekic is in uncharted territory, already past the second round at Indian Wells for the first time in 10 career attempts.

Third-seeded Taylor Fritz of San Diego faced off against No. 13 Jack Draper three times in 2024. Fritz earned victory in Munich and at the Summer in Olympics in Paris, but Draper won a rematch three months later in the same venue at the Paris Masters 1000 event. Fritz, the 2022 Indian Wells champion, is considered a slight underdog due to Draper's recent run of form.   

For No. 14 Grigor Dimitrov, a tough task awaits against No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, the highest-ranked player remaining in the men's draw. Four of their last five meetings have been at Masters 1000 events -- Alcaraz took the first three head-to-heads, but Dimitrov won the two most recent clashes in Shanghai and Miami.  

On the women's side, unseeded Sonay Kartal will be hoping to channel her inner David against one of the biggest Goliaths on tour, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. The 2023 Indian Wells runner-up, Sabalenka has a 15-3 record in 2025 events, although two of those losses were to unseeded opponents.

No. 24 Liudmila Samsonova will battle No. 6 Jasmine Paolini for the final women's match in the round of 16. Paolini had a breakout 2024 season, reaching the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon. Reaching the quarterfinals, however, would be a career-best result at Indian Wells for both players.

Both singles finals are scheduled to occur Sunday. A full scoreboard can be viewed at bnpparibasopen.com.