Alex de Minaur curse continues in brutal Indian Wells collapse
Alex de Minaur has suffered a heartbreaking loss to American hopeful Taylor Fritz at Indian Wells to continue a mortifying trend on the ATP Tour.
The Australian world No.31 dropped to an 0-7 record in round of 16 matches on the ATP 1000 tour thanks to the 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) loss.
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The result carried a particular sting thanks to countryman Nick Kyrgios proceeding to the quarter-finals after his opponent, Jannick Sinner, withdrew from their match due to injury.
A third-set tiebreaker was the worst way to end things for De Minaur, who went up a break in the third and deciding set, only to fall behind by a break, to then force the tiebreak.
The tiebreaker went with serve until the 12th point when 20th-seed Fritz forced a backhand error from de Minaur.
It was a truly brutal end to De Minaur's run at Indian Wells, with the 23-year-old having boasted an impressive turn of form leading into the tournament.
De Minaur lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the same fixture at Indian Wells 12 months ago.
He had looked to be in ominous form earlier in the tournament, having put a straight-sets beatdown on Tommy Paul to earn his sport in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal delighted the crowd in southern California with his trademark tenacity proving too much for Opelka in two tiebreaker sets, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5).
Nadal rallied from a 2-4 deficit in the second set before he closed out the match by pulling Opelka out of the court and forcing the 211cm American's backhand to land wide.
Nadal improved to 19-0 against American opponents since losing to John Isner at the 2017 Laver Cup.
Others to reach the last eight were unseeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who stunned Italian sixth seed Matteo Berrettini 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, a 6-3 7-6 (8-6) victory over John Isner.
Kyrgios readies himself for Rafa Nadal showdown at Indian Wells
With De Minaur out of the bracket, Kyrgios looms as something of a wildcard for the rest of the tournament - but will face a massive challenge in Rafael Nadal.
The Spaniard is yet to lose a match in 2022, having already won a thrilling Australian Open final against Daniil Medvedev to claim the overall men's grand slam record earlier this year.
Nadal sealed a blockbuster encounter with Kyrgios when he withstood the serving barrage of Reilly Opelka to make it 18 wins in a row to start the year — only Novak Djokovic has gotten off to better starts since 1990 when the Serb went 26-0 to begin 2020 and 41-0 to open 2011.
"He is playing great," Nadal said of Kyrgios in his on-court interview.
"He is one of the toughest opponents on Tour.
"Everyone knows how good he is when he is motivated, so probably tomorrow he will be.
"It is going to be a good test for me and good challenge.
"I am excited to be in the quarter-finals, and in the quarter-finals you can't expect an easy opponent."
Nadal, a three-time champion in the desert, holds a 5-3 record over Kyrgios — who has reached the last eight of an ATP Tour event event for the first time since his title success in Washington three years ago.
With AAP
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