Alex de Minaur has dropped just eight games en route to the last 16 at Indian Wells, his latest performance a 6-4 6-0 thumping of 21st seed Hubert Hurkacz.
Indian Wells, CA, United States, 10 March 2025 | AAP
Australia’s top-ranked tennis player Alex de Minaur has cruised into the fourth round at Indian Wells.
The world No.10, who is seeded ninth for the ATP 1000 event in the California desert, scored an impressive 6-4 6-0 win over Hubert Hurkacz.
Their head-to-head had been locked at 1-1, with the Pole taking out their last clash back in 2019 on the red clay in Madrid.
After a first-round bye and straight-sets victory over Belgian veteran David Goffin, De Minaur broke for the first time in the seventh game of the opening set, before taking it with his only set point.
The second stanza was all ‘The Demon’; he broke the No.21 seed again in the first, third and fifth games to seal the contest in just 74 minutes.
50 – Since the format’s inception in 1990, Alex de Minaur (50) has become the fifth Australian to claim 50+ ATP Masters 1000 match wins after Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter, Mark Philippoussis and Nick Kyrgios. Quintet.#TennisParadise | @BNPPARIBASOPEN @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/JscjTEf5e9
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 10, 2025
While the two men were almost equal in winners (Hurkacz struck 13 to De Minaur’s 10) the Australian produced a much cleaner performance, committing 12 unforced errors while Hurkacz sprayed 33.
De Minaur, a nine-time ATP title winner, will next face 25th seed Franciso Cerundolo after the Argentine beat Dutchman Botic Van De Zandschulp 7-5 6-4.
In men’s doubles, Australian gold medallists Matt Ebden and John Peers are through to the last 16, as is Jordan Thompson, who is partnering Sebastian Korda. John-Patrick Smith entered as an alternate pairing with Brazil’s Fernando Romboli.
Ellen Perez, seeded No.4 alongside Jelena Ostapenko, is through to the women’s doubles quarterfinals.
Leave a Reply