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Alex de Minaur has beaten American Tommy Paul in straight sets to charge into the round of 16 at the Indian Wells Masters in southern California.
- Alex de Minaur saved five break points and won a tie-breaker to join Nick Kyrigos in the round of 16
- 'The Demon' will face 20th-seed American Taylor Fritz in the next stage
- Fellow Aussie Daria Saville withdrew from her WTA 1000 clash against Maria Sakkari with a thigh injury
A day after wildcard Nick Kyrgios dispatched world number eight Casper Ruud to become the first Australian into the fourth round, de Minaur joined his compatriot with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 defeat of Paul.
De Minaur exhibited his trademark battling qualities in the one hour and 49 minute match to defy an opponent who had knocked off third-seeded Alexander Zverev in his previous round.
"More often than not, there's a good chance I'm going to have these long gruelling matches, so I'm ready for it," de Minaur said afterwards.
The 29th-seed saved five break points in the third game of the match before he jumped out to a 4-2 lead when he broke Paul's serve.
While de Minaur was unable to consolidate the break, he dominated the tiebreaker in which he converted three of six set points.
A long break of serve in the seventh game of the second set was all de Minaur needed as he sealed victory with an emphatic overhead.
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De Minaur will face Paul's fellow American Taylor Fritz next after the 20th seed overcame Jaume Munar in a near three-hour, three-set encounter.
Meanwhile, injury has thwarted Daria Saville's charge at the WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells, withdrawing from her round of 16 match against Maria Sakkari.
Saville called for a medical time-out at the change of ends while trailing 4-1, and after a brief spell off court, returned to inform Sakkari and the chair umpire that she was retiring.
The 28-year-old Australian had her left thigh heavily strapped during the match and was visibly hampered in her movement.
The resurgent Saville, who has overcome chronic Achilles pain to return to the tour, was unable to convert three break-point opportunities in a 13-minute opening game, and then dropped her serve to go further behind.
The qualifier had defeated two seeded players in Indian Wells to advance to a meeting with world number six Sakkari.
She recorded her first Top 10 win since 2018 after accounting for Ons Jabeur, and followed that up by defeating Elise Mertens in the third round.
Her run in Indian Wells will result in a jump of 160 places to 249th in the world rankings.
AAP/ABC