Alex de Minaur crashes out of Indian Wells, Coco Gauff upset by unseeded Belinda Bencic
Topic:Tennis
9m ago9 minutes agoThu 13 Mar 2025 at 1:43am
Alex de Minaur looks annoyed
Alex de Minaur had beaten Francisco Cerúndolo at the Australian Open earlier this year. (Getty Images: Clive Brunskill)
In short:
Alex de Minaur's run of never reaching the quarterfinals at Indian Wells continued with a straight sets defeat to Francisco Cerúndolo.
Women's third seed Coco Gauff was upset in the round of 16 by unseeded Belinda Bencic in three sets.
What's next?
Cerúndolo will play the winner of Grigor Dimitrov or Carlos Alcaraz.
Alex de Minaur has fallen to a straight sets defeat to Argentine 25th seed Francisco Cerúndolo 7-5, 6-3 at Indian Wells.
The world number 10, ranked ninth in California, has still never made it to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, often described as the fifth major.
De Minaur beat the Argentine in four sets at the Australian Open earlier this year, but an error-strewn performance saw him fall in one hour and 50 minutes.
The 26-year-old committed 39 unforced errors in an uncharacteristic display.
"I am super happy. I knew it was going to be a battle today," Cerúndolo said,
"Alex is an amazing player, a fighter. He is having some great years, a Top 10 player and we had a battle in Australia and it went his side but today I had another match, another opportunity and I think I did really well.
"I am super happy to beat a high-quality player and be in the quarter-finals in Indian Wells."
Elsewhere, Ben Shelton became the youngest American man since Andy Roddick in 2004 to reach the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, beating Brandon Nakashima in straight sets.
The 22-year-old Shelton cruised in the second set of a 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory. After a 61-minute opening set, he took a 5-0 lead in just 20 minutes in the deciding set.
The 11th-seeded Shelton hasn't dropped a set in five career matches against Nakashima, a 23-year-old American.
Belinda Bencic raises her arms
Belinda Bencic beat Coco Gauff in three sets. (Getty Images: Robert Prange)
On the women's side, number three seed Coco Gauff was upset in the round of 16 by unseeded Belinda Bencic. The 28-year-old wild card from Switzerland rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Bencic returned the favour from the Australian Open in January, when Gauff won after dropping the first set.
The defeat came the day before Gauff's 21st birthday as the 2023 US Open champion was broken at 4-4 in the final set after going up 40-0.
Gauff struggled with her serve throughout the tournament and had eight double-faults against Bencic, with just four aces.
Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the number five seed, rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3 victory over 19th-seeded Donna Vekić.
The 30-year-old American extended her winning streak to 15 matches after trailing 5-3 and being two points from defeat in the second set.
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Sonay Kartal, who was facing an opponent ranked in the top 10 for the first time.
Jack Draper of Britain beat third-seeded American Taylor Fritz — a past champion at Indian Wells — 7-5, 6-4.
AP/ABC
The ABC of SPORT
Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday.
Your information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.
Posted9m ago9 minutes agoThu 13 Mar 2025 at 1:43am
Copy link
X (formerly Twitter)