Alex de Minaur's big statement at Indian Wells after sad twist around Katie Boulter

Alex de Minaur has kept his hot streak going after storming into the last 16 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. The Aussie tennis star - fresh from his recent ATP title triumph in Acapulco - proved too strong for Alexander Bublik in a commanding 7-5, 6-0 in California.

De Minaur destroyed Taro Daniel 6-1 6-2 in under an hour in his first match at Indian Wells and the Aussie made another emphatic statement in Monday's round of 32 clash with Bublik. The 10th seed's reward for his straight-sets win is a round of 16 showdown against sixth seed Alexander Zverev, who beat Tallon Griekspoor 7-6, 6-3.

The Kazakh took it to de Minaur in a cagey opening set that saw him score the first break of the match in the third game. Bublik has been in excellent form too and won the Montpellier Open, before reaching the final in Dubai.

But the Aussie broke back immediately in the next game in a sea-sawing first set in which both players struggled to hold serve. De Minaur edged ahead and left Bublik needing to hold serve to force a tiebreak but the Aussie broke again to take the set and the ascendancy.

From there it was all one-way traffic, with de Minaur not allowing Bublik to win another game. With his girlfriend Katie Boulter watching and cheering him on from the stands, de Minaur proved why he should be considered one of the favourites for the title after wrapping up the win in one hour and 38 minutes.

Mixed fortunes for Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter

Indian Wells is the first tournament de Minaur and Boulter have played in together since the Australian Open but the Brit was knocked out in the first round by Camila Giorgi. The 6-3, 6-2 loss was a sad twist for Boulter, who had just climbed into the world's top 30 for the first time in her career, following her title triumph at the San Diego Open.

De Minaur flew to San Diego to watch his girlfriend claim the title straight after his own success in Mexico, in a move celebrated across the tennis world. While Boulter's hopes at Indian Wells have already been extinguished, she'll no doubt be cheering de Minaur on as he looks to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz win in style

In other men's action, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz also looked dominant as they marched into the next round. Sinner overwhelmed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4, while World No.2 Alcaraz played "almost the perfect match" to dismantle Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-2, 6-3.

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The reigning Wimbledon champion allowed his Canadian opponent no room to move, reaching the fourth round with his eighth match win in a row at the event. "It was almost the perfect match for me," said Alcaraz, who broke Auger-Aliassime's serve four times. "I moved well, played aggressive and had less mistakes."

Sinner was equally ruthless as he attacked Struff, with the Italian winning his 17th match in succession dating to his country's Davis Cup victory in November. Both of the young guns needed barely an hour and a quarter to claim their victories, with Sinner notching 27 winners in the rout.

"We prepared very well, I tried to learn his moves," Sinner said. "I played well and served well under pressure. Overall I can be really happy about today, I felt really good on the court."

Greek 11th-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas eliminated home crowd favourite Frances Tiafoe after defeating the American 6-3, 6-3. "I'm happy with this victory because I had a good start," Tsitsipas said. "I maintained that throughout the match."

with agencies

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