Nick Kyrgios has set up a first clash with fellow rising star Alexander Zverev by breezing into the third round in the so-called “quarter of death” at the Indian Wells Masters.
The 21-year-old Australian hit 25 winners as he began his tournament with a 6-3 6-4 victory over world No.73 Horacio Zeballos in 71 minutes at the California desert venue.
He now meets 19-year-old Zverev, with the winner expected to face either Novak Djokovic or Juan Martin del Potro in the fourth round.
Zverev, the lanky world No.20 from Germany, beat Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 7-6 6-3.
“Playing my good friend Alexander Zverev, I’m looking forward to that,” said Kyrgios, who sent down 10 aces and lost only five points on his first serve against Zeballos.
“I think serving is the key here. You’ve got to make a lot of first serves and try and play aggressive.”
Djokovic beat Brit Kyle Edmond in straight sets to set up a third round meeting with Del Potro, who ousted Frederico Delbonis.
Should he face Djokovic in round four, Kyrgios will take plenty of confidence from his victory over the world 2 in Acapulco 13 days ago
So tough is his section of the draw, however, that a victory there would mean a likely quarter-final against either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.
Between them, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have won 12 of the last 13 Indian Wells Masters editions.
This year, only one of them can reach the semi-finals, where top seed Andy Murray will be missing after crashing out to Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil in a second-round upset on Saturday.
Nadal easily accounted for Guido Pella in the second round .
The 14-time grand slam champion – unable to train for two days this week due to illness – triumphed 6-3 6-2 over the Argentinian.
Nadal, runner-up at Acapulco to Sam Querrey, has not won a hardcourt title since Doha in 2014 and the 30-year-old has played in 30 hardcourt tournaments since then.
Australian Open winner Federer easily dispatched Frenchman Stephane Robert 6-2 6-1.
In other matches, Japan’s fourth seed Kei Nishikori advanced, beating Briton Dan Evans 6-3 6-4 while Bulgarian 12th seed Grigor Dimitrov hammered Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-4 6-0.
