Lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp will try to continue his Indian Wells run at the expense of Francisco Cerundolo on Monday. In an all-seeded showdown, Alex de Minaur and Hubert Hurkacz also aim for a place in the last 16.
(21) Hubert Hurkacz vs. (9) Alex de Minaur
De Minaur and Hurkacz will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they do battle in round three of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday. Despite playing basically all of the same tournaments and advancing deep in many of them, they shockingly have not gone head-to-head since 2019. De Minaur prevailed in a third-set tiebreaker at the 2018 Atlanta tournament before Hurkacz got the job done 6-3, 6-4 one year later at the Madrid Masters.
Hurkacz can hit through these slow Indian Wells conditions more effectively than his opponent, but De Minaur probably won’t have to do that in order to be successful. The 10th-ranked Australian should be able to get plenty of returns in play and he can win a majority of baseline rallies simply by outlasting Hurkacz with consistency. De Minaur has been by far the superior player through the first two months of the 2025 campaign and that is a story that will likely continue.
Pick: De Minaur in 3
(LL) Botic van de Zandschulp vs. (25) Francisco Cerundolo
Van de Zandschulp had been the luckiest of losers at the Indian Wells Masters, but he has also been very good–at least aside from his final-round qualifying loss to Matteo Gigante. After getting into the main draw, the world No. 85 got a retirement from Nick Kyrgios (Van de Zandschulp won the first set in a tiebreaker) and then upset Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Up next for Van de Zandschulp is a first-ever meeting with Cerundolo, who has played only one match at this event compared to his opponent’s four. Following a bye, the 25th-ranked Argentine scraped past Mackenzie McDonald 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1. This contest will likely be more about Van de Zandschulp than it is about Cerundolo, as the outcome–if he plays aggressively–will be on the Dutchman’s racket. He also beat Carlos Alcaraz (U.S. Open) and Rafael Nadal (Davis Cup Finals) last year, but those tournaments did not end well for him–culminating in blowout losses to Denis Shapovalov and Matteo Berrettini, respectively. Although Van de Zandschulp is the superior hard-court player, conditions in the desert are not bad for Cerundolo.
Pick: Cerundolo in 3
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