Third-seed Jannik Sinner of Italy continues his Indian Wells Masters campaign when he faces local favorite Ben Shelton in the fourth round. 

The winner of this match will face either 11^th-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece or 32^nd-seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals. 

Tied at 1-1. Ben Shelton won his first ever meeting with the Italian at the Shanghai Masters in October 2023. The American completed a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 comeback win over Sinner in a round of 16 tie, but the latter quickly avenged the defeat a few weeks later at the Vienna Open with a 7-6, 7-5 first-round win en route to the title. 

Having reached his maiden ATP final at the Japan Open last October, Ben Shelton already boasts one prestigious (ATP 500) title to his name and the 21-year-old American will be bidding to claim another famous win on home soil. 

Shelton flew back home right after his Australian campaign at the start of the year. He attended the Dallas Open, where Shelton lost in straight sets to fellow countryman and eventual champion Tommy Paul in the semi-finals. 

He also reached the quarter-finals at the Mexican Open in Acapulco two weeks ago, where Shelton lost in three sets to Casper Ruud of Norway. 

Shelton hasn't really enjoyed a strong start to the new campaign, but his unwavering confidence and belief in his abilities have contributed to solid wins at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

He lost his first set in the competition but rallied himself to beat Czech teenage sensation 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round. 

The American showed tight nerves to overcome 22^nd seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in the third round, with Shelton battling a 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 victory in two hours and 46 minutes. 

The Italian will be aiming to extend his unbeaten form in 2024. Sinner is in the midst of a 14-match winning streak, including his glorious Australian Open triumph in January. He continued with another remarkable performance in Rotterdam, where the 22-year-old clinched his 12^th ATP Tour singles title. 

Jannik Sinner has elevated his game to a new level in terms of performance, fitness and consistency since the conclusion of the US Open last season. As a result, he became the first Italian man to reach world No. 3 on the ATP rankings.

To be fair, Sinner is currently performing at an exceptional level compared to the rest of the ATP Tour, and there seems to be no one capable of halting his perfect form at the start of the year. 

Having delivered comfortable wins over Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia (6-3, 6-0) and experienced German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4 in his opening two matches, Jannik Sinner must not get complacent when he locks horns with another huge talent in Ben Shelton. 

The upcoming stage (round of 16) has historically been the most challenging for the Italian at Indian Wells, with back-to-back exits in 2021 and 2022. However, Sinner broke this pattern during the last year's edition, dominating Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka en route to the semifinals.

Throughout his impressive development over the past couple of months, Sinner has suffered only one defeat to players other than Novak Djokovic and remarkably - that defeat was against Ben Shelton himself at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in October. 

Shelton seems to be one of the players who can elevate their game on the big stage. He holds a 3-7 record against Top 10 players throughout his young career, but the American has put in a number of admirable fights in almost every match against them.

In all of them, Shelton has either won a set or forced at least a tiebreaker, including previous meetings against the likes of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, apart from the aforementioned matches against his current opponent. 

Based on their current form, Jannik Sinner is reasonably expected to outlast his American opponent, though.

With that said, Sinner is an overwhelming favorite to extend his winning streak in 2024 but Shelton will be up for a fight and we expect a tight contest between these two prospects of men's tennis.