Australia’s top-ranked tennis player, Alex de Minaur, advanced to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells with a commanding victory. The world No. 10, seeded ninth in the ATP 1000 event, defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-0 in an impressive performance.
Heading into the match, the two players had each won one of their previous encounters, with Hurkacz claiming their last meeting on Madrid’s clay courts in 2019. However, De Minaur quickly took control this time.
After receiving a first-round bye and defeating Belgian veteran David Goffin in straight sets, De Minaur secured his first break in the seventh game of the opening set and capitalized on his only set point. He dominated the second set, breaking the No. 21 seed three times to close out the match in just 74 minutes.
At 26 years old, De Minaur is the last Australian left in the tournament. Fellow countrymen Nick Kyrgios, Jordan Thompson, Chris O’Connell, Alexei Popyrin, Alexandar Vukic, Rinky Hijikata, Li Tu, and Adam Walton were all eliminated earlier in the week.
The nine-time ATP title winner will now face 25th seed Francisco Cerundolo, who secured his spot in the next round with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
Elsewhere, Jack Draper overcame a tough start to defeat Jenson Brooksby 7-5, 6-4, reaching the last 16 for the second time in his career.
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