Alex De Minaur crashes out of Indian Wells, loses to Francisco Cerundolo in round of 16

Argentine Francisco Cerundolo surprised world number 10 Alex de Minaur by defeating him 7-5, 6-3 in the round of 16 at Indian Wells. Cerundolo, ranked 26th in the world, will now look for a place in the semifinals of the tournament against the winner of the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Grigor Dimitrov.

Both Cerundolo and de Minaur reached the round of 16 at Indian Wells, playing at a high level and with important victories along the way.

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The Argentine defeated local Mackenzie McDonald in his tournament debut 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1. In the second round, he faced Novak Djokovic's conqueror, Botic Van de Zandschulp. Unlike the Serb, Cerundolo found his opponent’s game to his liking.

On the side of the number 10, de Minaur had not lost more than 8 games in any of his previous matches. Against David Goffin, he played brutally, dispatching the Belgian 6-2, 6-2. Next, Poland's Hubert Hurkacz was on his list. Against Hurkacz, the Australian produced an inspired performance, especially in the second set, winning 6-4, 6-0. Both players were looking to claim their first title of the season.

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First Set

The match began in an atypical fashion, with both opponents attacking in their return games. Cerundolo was the first to break, but the Australian quickly returned the favor. In the set, Cerundolo broke 3 times out of 4 opportunities, while de Minaur only converted 2 out of 13. The Australian missed his chance to close the set at 5-4, and Cerundolo finally claimed the first set 7-5.

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Second Set

The second set started with Cerundolo breaking de Minaur's serve again, but the Australian's tough style of play led him to break back. That was the only moment where Cerundolo appeared to falter. De Minaur made many more mistakes than usual, especially in the second set, something Cerundolo capitalized on brilliantly.

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It was a great performance for Cerundolo, who now holds a 13-13 record against top-10 opponents, and he avenged his loss to de Minaur in the last Australian Open, where the Australian defeated him in 4 sets in front of his home crowd.

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