Alex de Minaur had continued his sizzling kind with a 7-5 6-0 win over Alexander Bublik to succeed in the fourth spherical of the ATP Indian Wells Masters in California.
Kazakhstan’s world No.20 Bublik was a latest finalist in Dubai however world No.10 de Minaur got here from 5-3 down within the first set to roll previous him in 87 minutes on Sunday to arrange a conflict with sixth seed Alexander Zverev.
That subsequent project will not seem as daunting for de Minaur as it could have earlier than this yr.
He beat German star Zverev within the United Cup in Sydney in January as he broke into world high 10 and has gone on to succeed in the ultimate in Rotterdam final month then retain his Mexican Open title in Acapulco final week.
Whoever wins the conflict between de Minaur and Zverev is prone to run into second seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz within the quarter-finals.
Alcaraz moved into the fourth spherical with a 6-2 6-3 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime and subsequent performs Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan.
Australian Open champion and third seed Jannik Sinner additionally superior with a 6-3 6-4 win over Jan-Lennard Struff whereas eleventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat dwelling hope Frances Tiafoe 6-3 6-3.
Alcaraz mentioned one of many keys to defending his title was to place the earlier yr’s victory out of his thoughts.
“I think the first thing that you have to do if you want to defend the title is you forget about you won the title last year,” mentioned the 20-year-old.
“It’s about being yourself, being at 100 per cent every day if you want to do a good results here”.
Alcaraz additionally mentioned the ankle damage which pressured him to withdraw from the Rio Open final month was not a difficulty throughout his matches.
“I’m not going to say I forget about it, but in matches, I forget all about it,” he added. “I’m moving very well. I don’t think about the ankle in matches, in training. But off the court, of course, I have to take care of it.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
