Indian Wells: Cameron Norrie could face Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals after defeating Rinki Hijikata

Briton Cameron Norrie defeated Australian qualifier Rinki Hijikata in the round of 16 in Indian Wells, and he may meet world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.

Nouri has not lost a set so far in this year’s tournament, as he consolidated his victory over sixth seed Alex de Minaur in the previous round with a wonderful 6-4, 6-2 victory over Hijikata, ranked 117th in the world, in one hour and 16 minutes.

The 30-year-old left-handed player broke Hijikata’s serve in the first half of the match, and after clinching the first set, she broke her serve twice more in the second to qualify for the quarter-finals.

On his own serve, the 27th seed faced just one break point in the match.

Nouri has a good track record in hard court competition in California.

This is his eighth appearance in men’s singles and this is the fourth time he has reached at least the quarter-finals.

He won the title in 2021, but lost in the quarter-finals in the next two years.

Alcaraz hopes to secure his place in the quarter-finals against Norwegian Casper Ruud, seeded 13th, later on Wednesday.

Norrie has won three of his eight tour-level matches against the Spaniard, including their last meeting at the Paris Masters in October.