Alex De Minaur falls at the first hurdle at the Indian Wells Masters
Six days after the biggest title win of his career, Alex de Minaur was eliminated in his first match at the Indian Wells Masters on a bleak day for the Australians.
De Minaur, who earned a bye thanks to his 16th seed in the first round, lost 4-6, 2-6 to world No. 84 Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in the second round in the California desert on Saturday.
Alex de Minaur scores against Marton Fucsovics but found the Hungarian too good.Credit:Getty Images
World No. 18 de Minaur celebrated his three-set win over Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul in the final in Acapulco, where he won his seventh title, his first at the ATP 500 level.
Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis was also eliminated in the second round 6-3, 6-3 to world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who reached the semifinals in the desert last year and could return to first place for the first time since January when he wins the title.
And two other Australians, Rinky Hijikata and Alexei Popyrin, were also stopped on the second lap.
Qualifier Hijikata was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by 30th seed Sebastian Baez, while lucky qualifier loser Popyrin fell 6-3, 6-3 to ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz.
Thanasi Kokkinakis serves against Carlos Alcaraz.Credit:Getty Images
Taylor Fritz, the defending champion from Indian Wells, defeated his American compatriot Ben Shelton 4:6, 6:4, 6:3 and reached the third round.
The Italian Jannik Sinner defeated Richard Gasquet 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 2). The 21-year-old Sinner shot 20 forehand winners against the 36-year-old veteran.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/de-minaur-falls-at-first-hurdle-in-indian-wells-masters-20230312-p5crha.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_sport Alex De Minaur falls at the first hurdle at the Indian Wells Masters
