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Jannik Sinner keeps rolling through early rounds at Indian Wells

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Syndication: Desert SunJannik Sinner follows through in his win over Denis Shapovalov during their round 3 match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., March 8, 2026.

World No. 2 Jannik Sinner took another step in his quest for his first title at Indian Wells, dominating Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2 in 73 minutes on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open.

The Italian advanced to the California event’s fourth round for the fifth time in as many appearances. He made the semifinals in 2023 and 2024 but lost to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, the current No. 1.

Sinner, the second seed, is 2-1 head-to-head against Shapovalov, ranked No. 39 in the world.

“Denis is a high quality-player, as we know,” Sinner said. “He’s an in-form player, so I’m very happy with my performance. I tried to stay solid at the baseline, but also a bit more aggressive in the second set, which helped me. It was a tough start for me, but I’m happy with how I reacted.”

Sinner converted 4 of 8 on break-point opportunities, to 1 of 1 for Shapovalov, who had more unforced errors (25-11) and double faults (7-2). Sinner had the edge in aces (6-2) and won 85% of his first serves (28 of 33), to 62% (21 of 34) for his opponent.

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While Sinner cruised on Sunday, World No. 8 Ben Shelton was upset by fellow American and left-hander Learner Tien 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3 in 2 hours, nine minutes in their Round-of-32 match.

The 25th-seeded Tien, making the fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time, is now 2-0 at this ATP Tour level against Shelton and acknowledged that his opponent has been battling through an illness.

“I just want to say, Ben came out not feeling 100%,” Tien said. “I don’t think he’s been feeling great all week, but he’s an amazing competitor and he came out and gave it his all. So I just want to say, huge props to him.”

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Tien, 20, is from Irvine, Calif., and attended matches at this event over several years as a child growing up in Southern California. He called it “really a full-circle moment.”

He actually out-aced the hard-serving Shelton, 15-8. That power came with more double faults (10-3), but Tien also had more winners (40-34) as neither player was able to break serve more than once during the match.

Another upset came from unseeded Brazilian Joao Fonseca, age 19, eliminated American Tommy Paul, the 23rd seed, 6-2, 6-3. Czech Jakub Mensik, the 12th seed, fell to 18th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the fourth seed, avoided an upset by outlasting 28th-seeded Brandon Nakashima of the United States 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4.

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No. 9 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime won an All-Canadian battle with Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3. American Frances Tiafoe, seeded 21st, got the better of Italian Flavio Cobolli, the 15th seed, 6-1, 6-2.

Frenchman Arthur Fils, seeded 30th, dispatched Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 7-5.

–Field Level Media

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Celebrate International Women’s Month by watching ONE Championship’s CRAZIEST women’s KO’s in history

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9 March 2026

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To celebrate International Women’s Month this year, ONE Championship paid tribute to its top-notch female fighters by sharing on social media some of the craziest knockout finishes they have fashioned.

ONE uploaded a 13-minute video on its official YouTube channel featuring impressive KO performances and the unparalleled heart of women warriors in the promotion’s history.

Leading the video package is double world champion Stella Hemetsberger’s opening-round KO of Polish opponent Vanessa Romanowski in their Muay Thai battle at ONE Friday Fights 104 in April last year. Midway into the first stanza, the Austrian sensation set up a crisp combination, which she capped with a clean head kick that instantly dropped her opponent unconscious.

The win continued her impressive run in ONE Championship‘s Friday Fights series before ascending to the promotion’s main roster.

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

Thai superstar Stamp Fairtex’s second-round KO of Alyse Anderson of the United States at ONE Fight Night 10 in May 2023 also makes the video package. The former three-sport world champion introduced herself to a wider American audience in the Denver, Colorado event, when she stopped Anderson with a crushing body kick that rendered the latter unable to continue.

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Atomweight kickboxing world champion Phetjeeja’s successful return to Muay Thai at ONE Fight Night 38 in December is spotlighted as well. ‘The Queen’ pummeled Polish striker Martyna Dominczak with powerful punches for an opening-round TKO finish.

Jackie Buntan, too, is also part of the video feature with her first-round demolition of Australian Diandra Martin at ONE Fight Night 10. The Filipino-American striker showcased her punching power with a solid combination to the body and head from which her opponent could not recover from.

Other female fighters whose KO finishes are included in the feature are ONE atomweight world champions Allycia Hellen Rodrigues (Muay Thai) and Denice Zamboanga (MMA), Burmese star Vero and retired former ONE world champion Janet Todd.

Check out ONE Championship’s video post below:

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Stella Hemetsberger adds her name to ONE Championship’s stellar female champions

Austrian striker Stella Hemetsberger has been with ONE Championship for one-and-a-half years and has been unstoppable. She punctuated it by becoming world champion in her last two matches.

The 27-year-old Phuket Fight Club affiliate became the ONE strawweight Muay Thai queen in her fourth fight in the promotion. She vied for the vacant belt and dominated Jackie Buntan in their five-round championship fight at ONE Fight Night 35 last September to win by unanimous decision.

She then followed it up with another world title win last month at ONE Fight Night 40, taking Buntan’s strawweight kickboxing gold. While Buntan put up a tougher stand than in their first encounter, Hemetsberger stayed the course and held on for the split decision victory.

Hemetsberger is thrilled with how things have panned out for her in ONE Championship, but said she is not yet done going for greater heights.

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