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AAP
AAP

De Minaur keeps Australian hopes alive in California

It keeps getting better for in-form Australian men's tennis star Alex de Minaur.

The recently crowned Acapulco champion was at it again on Friday when he raced into the round of 32 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

De Minaur was clearly in a hurry, taking apart Taro Daniel 6-1 6-2 in under an hour.

The world No.10 nailed the big points against the Japanese star, converting five of his six break-point opportunities.

De Minaur will now take on either No.20 seed Alexander Bublik or qualifier Juncheng Shang for a place in the round of 16.

Joining the Australian in the next round is Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner.

The Italian continued his unbeaten start to the year with a dominant victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Sinner followed up his Melbourne triumph by winning another title in Rotterdam and, playing his first match as world No.3, he eased to a 6-3 6-0 win against the Australian.

Including his three singles victories in guiding Italy to Davis Cup success last November, Sinner has now won 16 matches in a row.

The 22-year-old, who could climb to second in the rankings this fortnight, said: "You always can set goal after goal and then, when you reach one goal, try to work hard for the next goal. I feel like I still have to improve many things."

No.6 seed Alexander Zverev proved too strong for another Australian Chris O'Connell, winning their encounter 6-4 6-4 in a tight affair.

O'Connell broke the German's serve once but lost three games on serve himself, despite sending down seven aces.

In later action, Australian Aleksandar Vukic takes on No.1 seed Novak Djokovic.

with PA

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