Brandon Nakashima was surely battling demons heading into his fourth career meeting with compatriot Ben Shelton. He had lost all seven sets he had played against the Florida native, four of them in tiebreaks. 

After the opening set of Wednesday’s tilt between the two rising Americans, he was no doubt seeing ghosts. 

32nd-seeded Nakashima eventually succumbed to Shelton again, losing a nip-and-tuck opening set before losing his way in a lopsided second as he fell to the left-hander for a fourth consecutive time, 7-6(6), 6-1. 

With his win 22-year-old Shelton reaches his first BNP Paribas Open quarterfinal, and third at the Masters 1000 level. 

“I started to hit another gear,” Shelton told the crowd after his win. “Whenever you get through a tight set you want to keep the momentum going and see what you can do early in the set to try and make the lead a little bit bigger. I was pretty focused from beginning to end and I saw my level climb as I went through the match.” 

After dropping the 61-minute opening set, Nakashima wasn’t given much time to reflect on his misfortune. 11th-seeded Shelton, now in full flight, broke twice in succession and jumped out to a 5-0 lead in 20 minutes.

With each passing game, Nakashima looked a little bit more deflated — who could blame him?

He managed to avoid the bagel with a hold for 5-1, but a ruthless Shelton quickly served out the victory at love, smashing an inside out forehand winner into the open court to close the contest in one hour and 34 minutes.

With his win 22-year-old Shelton becomes the youngest American quarterfinalist at Indian Wells since Andy Roddick in 2004. It’s another testament to the current depth and strength of the American men, Shelton says. 

“I’m just a small part of the group,” Shelton said. “Happy to be contributing. I think we have an amazing group that is getting better and better every year. There are new names playing here this year that weren’t there last year, and the same for the year before.  I want to continue being a part of it – I want to see American tennis go to the moon.”

Shelton will face Jack Draper in the quarterfinals on Thursday in the California desert.

Draper Takes Out Former Champion Fritz

Draper knew he’d have to go big or go home against former champion Taylor Fritz as the pair contested their fifth career meeting against the Southern California native and hometown favorite on Wednesday evening in Stadium 1. 

He’s not going home. 

Draper went big, and pulled out a 7-5, 6-4 win over the No.4-seeded American to book his first career Indian Wells quarterfinal. “I felt great,” said Draper on court after the match. “It was the best match I’ve played here so far, in all the three years that I’ve been here.” 

Draper, who cranked 24 winners, including 14 off the forehand wing, said he knew he would have to be opportunistic against Fritz. 

“I’m really happy with the way I was sharp, I moved great and competed well,” he said. “There were a few moments here and there where I was really brave. I spoke to my coach about it before the match – when you have chances against these types of players you have to take them. Taylor’s such an amazing player, so to come through the way I did I’m very proud of that.” 

Draper earns his third Top 5 win and drops Fritz to 22-8 lifetime at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The 23-year-old World No. 14 had a rough start to 2025 when he picked up a hip injury just prior to the start of the season, but the British No. 1 feels he is playing at his best level once again. 

Draper was broken once, but only when he had built a double-break lead in the second set. The No. 13 seed dominated from the service stripe, winning 32 of 35 first-serve points. He broke the Fritz serve three times in the 78-minute encounter. 

“I had a bit of a break at the start of the year, when I was injured,” he said. “I’m really happy with the way me and my team have worked, and come through some tough times recently. The hard work is paying off.” 

Draper will face No. 11-seeded Shelton in the quarterfinals on Thursday; it will be the pair’s first meeting. 

“I’m very excited for that matchup. I haven’t played Ben,” said Draper. “I think he’s an amazing young talent, and he brings such an energy to the court and the locker room. He’s one of the nicest guys around. I’m looking forward to that matchup, and I’m looking forward to getting out there and competing, hopefully on this court, one more time.”