Alex de Minaur vs Hubert Hurkacz Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Demon to edge past Hurkacz into R16

It will be the first meeting between these two players in five years, but I think this is now a good matchup for de Minaur. The Aussie's greatest strength is his speed and return of serve, which should (pardon the pun) serve him well against Hurkacz, who relies heavily on his first ball. Hurkacz also hasn't been close to his best since getting injured at Wimbledon last year and comes into this tournament with an average 7-6 record on the season.

De Minaur has done an excellent job of beating players ranked below him over the last 12 months and he will be confident of breaking new ground at Indian Wells this week. Hurkacz does have the ability to push this Over 22.5 total games, but backing the Demon to secure victory and a ticket into the R16.

Currently locked at 1-1. As mentioned, this will be their first encounter since 2019. De Minaur won their first clash 1-6 7-6 7-6 in Atlanta in 2018 before the Pole squared the ledger with a straight sets victory on the clay of Madrid the following year.

De Minaur has compiled a 14-4 record so far in 2025, remaining inside the top 10 - however, he might need a deep run at Indian Wells if he is to stay in that bracket depending on the results of others.

Regardless, it's been a great start to the season for de Minaur - he made a first Australian Open quarter-final, losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner, while he was also a runner-up in Rotterdam to Carlos Alcaraz.

De Minaur once again went down to the eventual winner when he was bundled out of the Doha quarter-finals by Andrey Rublev, before his one poor match of the year came at Dubai the following week, where he was upstaged by veteran Marin Cilic in three sets.

The Aussie returned to form in his Indian Wells opener, easing past David Goffin 6-2 6-2. De Minaur made the fourth round of Indian Wells in 2024, going down in three sets to Alexander Zverev.

Hurkacz underwent knee surgery after Wimbledon last year and he's still trying to recapture the sort of tennis that propelled him into the top 10.

The Pole hasn't really got going so far this season, suffering a second round loss at the Australian Open in straight sets to Miomir Kecmanovic and losing three of his five matches at the United Cup.

Hurkacz put together a solid tournament in Rotterdam to make the semi-finals (lost to Alcaraz), but he was knocked out in the opening round of his next event in Marseille against Zhizhen Zhang.

Down at No. 22 in the world, Hurkacz got his Indian Wells campaign up and running with a straight sets victory over Hugo Gaston. The 28-year-old is a two-time quarter-finalist in the Californian desert, but lost his opening match last year to Gael Monfils.