Carlos Alcaraz defeats Daniil Medvedev to defend his Indian Wells title, Iga Swiatek beats Maria Sakkari for women's title

Jannik Sinner will move on to the Indian Wells fourth round after John Isner suddenly withdrew Monday afternoon due to the impending birth of his third child. Isner will head back on the next flight to Dallas, where plenty of sleepless nights surely await.

Sinner will now face the winner of Matteo Berrettini and Taylor Fritz. If he plays anything like he did against John Millman on Sunday, the Italian will be in pretty good shape.

“You we’re so f*ing good today,” Millman told the Italian after the match. “You didn’t miss many, did you?”

"You were f*****g good today!" – Millman to Sinner 🤝

Agreed, Sinner is through the next stage of the #BNPPO21 after his 6-2, 6-2 win over the Australian.
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 10, 2021

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After a few days of fun in the Southern California desert, Isner will head back to Dallas for the birth of his third child. (Matt Fitzgerald)

By now you’ve likely heard that the conditions at this year’s Indian Wells are on the slow side. They are, but according to several ATP players, this is the slowest hard court they’ve ever played on.

“It doesn’t get any slower than this,” said Denis Kudla, who fell to clay court specialist Alejandro Tabilo in the first round.

So far, these extraordinarily slow conditions are rewarding big servers who can create easy power. Sinner might not have the best serve in the world, but at just 20-years-old, he’s arguably the Prince of the easy power department.

Isner's withdrawal may have serious ATP Finals implications, as Sinner and Hubert Hurkacz are vying for the final spot after Rafael Nadal announced he will forgo the rest of the 2021 season. Hurkacz, who defeated Sinner in the Miami final in March, leads the Italian by just 270 points.

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