DEMON DEMOLISHES RIVAL
AUSTRALIAN Alex de Minaur racked up his first win over a top-20 ranked opponent since January as he stormed in to the fourth round at the Indian Wells Masters 1000 event in California.
But fellow Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic’s career-best run at the tournament came to a halt with a 6-4 6-1 defeat at the hands of German former world No.1 Angelique Kerber.
De Minaur, however, has hit his straps at the event and the 22nd seed scored a 6-4 6-2 victory against Chile’s Cristian Garin, the 13th seed, in 92 minutes.
It snaps a six-match losing streak for De Minaur against top 20-ranked opponents, which stretched back to a semi-final victory against world No.16 David Goffin during his title-winning run at Antalya in January.
The 22-year-old Australian had not won consecutive matches since June and entered the tournament with a single win from his past eight games.
De Minaur hasn’t lost a set for the tournament and now faces world No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Alexander Zverev won the clash of the two most recent Olympic gold medallists at the ATP Indian Wells, holding off a fierce challenge from Andy Murray despite an equipment malfunction.