De Minaur advances to fourth round at Indian Wells

Australian Alex de Minaur is moving on at Indian Wells after defeating world No.17 Cristian Garin in third-round men's singles action today.


Wednesday 13 October 2021
Leigh Rogers
Indian Wells, USA
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 10: Alex de Minaur of Australia celebrates after defeating Aleksandar Vukic of Australia during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on October 10, 2021 in Indian Wells, California. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Alex de Minaur has recorded his first top-20 win since January to progress to the fourth round at Indian Wells.

The No.22-seeded Australian scored a 6-4 6-2 victory against Chile's Cristian Garin in third-round action today, needing 92-minutes to rally past the No.13 seed.

It snaps a six-match losing streak for De Minaur against top 20-ranked opponents, stretching back to a semifinal victory against world No.16 David Goffin during his title-winning run at Antalya in January.

The impressive victory against world No.17 Garin provides a much-needed confidence boost for De Minaur. The 22-year-old Australian had not won consecutive matches since June and entered the tournament with a single win from his past eight matches.

This is De Minaur's career-best result at the ATP Masters 1000 event too, bettering second-round appearances in 2018 and 2019.


Yet to lose a set in the Californian desert, De Minaur sets up a fourth-round showdown with world No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas leads their head-to-head record 5-0 in tour-level main draw matches, with De Minaur's sole victory against the 23-year-old Greek in qualifying at an ATP Challenger tournament on grass in 2017.

Unfortunately Ajla Tomljanovic's career-best run in the women's singles draw ended in the fourth round, with German Angelique Kerber recording a 6-4 6-1 victory.

The 28-year-old Australian converted only one of her five break point opportunities in the 86-minute match today.

Tomljanovic had been looking to record her third consecutive top-40 win, but proved no match for the three-time Grand Slam champion.

John Peers and Slovak Filip Polasek have progressed to the men's doubles quarterfinals, posting a 6-4 7-6(5) victory against Dutch combination Wesley Koolhof and Jean-Julien Rojer in the second round.

The seventh-seeded duo, who have now won 10 of their past 12 matches, face top-seeded Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in the quarterfinals.

Aussies in action - Indian Wells

RESULTS
Men's singles, third round
[22] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d [13] Cristian Garin (CHI) 6-4 6-2

Women's singles, fourth round
[10] Angelique Kerber (GER) d Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) 6-4 6-1

Men's doubles, second round
[7] John Peers (AUS)/Filip Polasek (SVK) d Wesley Koolhof (NED)/Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) 6-4 7-6(5)

COMING UP
Men's singles, fourth round
[22] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v [2] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)

Men's doubles, quarterfinals
[7] John Peers (AUS)
/Filip Polasek (SVK) v [1] Nikola Mektic (CRO)/Mate Pavic (CRO)