Alex de Minaur suffered a straight-sets loss against Argentine 25th seed Francisco Cerúndolo with scores of 7-5, 6-3 at the Indian Wells tournament.
The player currently ranked tenth globally and ninth in California hasn’t managed to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, which is frequently referred to as the fifth major tournament.
De Minaur defeated the Argentine in four sets at the Australian Open earlier this year , however, his mistake-filled display led to his downfall after just one hour and fifty minutes.
The individual aged 26 made 39 unforced mistakes in a performance that was unusually inconsistent.
"I'm extremely delighted. I anticipated this would be quite a challenge today," Cerúndolo stated.
Alex is an incredible player and a real competitor. He’s been enjoying some fantastic seasons, ranking among the top ten players, and we had quite a contest in Australia which he won. However, today I faced another match and seized this new chance; I believe I performed exceptionally.
I'm extremely delighted to have defeated a top-notch opponent and advanced to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells.
In another part of the competition, Ben Shelton made history as the youngest American male player since Andy Roddick in 2004 to advance to the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, defeating Brandon Nakashima in consecutive sets.
In the second set of his 7-6 (6), 6-1 win, the 22-year-old Shelton dominated. Following an initial set that lasted 61 minutes, he quickly built up a commanding 5-0 lead in only 20 minutes during the decisive set.
The 11th-seeded Shelton hasn't dropped a set in five career matches against Nakashima, a 23-year-old American.
In the women’s competition, third-seeded Coco Gauff faced an unexpected defeat in the round of 16 against unseeded player Belinda Bencic. The 28-year-old wildcard participant from Switzerland staged a comeback to win with scores of 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In return for her win at the Australian Open in January where she came back after losing the initial set, Bencic defeated Gaolf afterwards.
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The loss occurred just one day prior to Gauff's 21st birthday, with the 2023 US Open winner being broken at 4-4 in the last set despite leading 40-0 earlier.
Throughout the tournament, Gauff faced difficulties with her serves and recorded eight double faults against Bencic, compared to only four aces.
Australian Open winner Madison Keys The fifth-seed player made a comeback with a 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3 win against the 19th-seeded Donna Vekić.
The 30-year-old U.S. player stretched her consecutive wins to 15 matches after falling behind 5-3 and facing two match points in the second set.
Lead player Aryna Sabalenka easily secured a win with a score of 6-1, 6-2 against Sonay Kartal, who was up against someone ranked within the top 10 for the very first time.
Jack Draper from Britain defeated Taylor Fritz, the three-time seeded American and former champion at Indian Wells, with scores of 7-5, 6-4.
AP/ABC
