Alex de Minaur, more and more acquainted with the sensation of being the final Aussie standing in singles competitors at massive occasions, is as soon as once more the final word survivor, this time on the Madrid Open.
De Minaur dealt with all that former French Open semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato might throw at him on the Italian’s favoured clay-court floor on Saturday to report a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) second-round win and e book a last-32 spot on the Masters 1000 occasion.
And after his fellow Sydneysider Chris O’Connell had been defeated in straight units by American Taylor Fritz, it meant that, with no Australian girls in the principle draw and 4 of his male compatriots already having bitten the crimson mud, de Minaur would be the just one flying the flag within the second week.
His subsequent opponent might be Aslan Karatsev, the Russian who made such a dramatic breakthrough in reaching the semi-finals on the Australian Open two years in the past however who’s again all the way down to 121 on the planet rankings.
Victory over Cecchinato mentioned a lot about world No.19 de Minaur’s enchancment on clay courts.
Three instances beforehand, the Italian had defeated him on the floor, twice at Roland Garros and as soon as within the Italian Open, however this time the Australian sixteenth seed largely commanded the competition as soon as he broke for a 2-1 lead within the opener.
The nationwide No.1 did come underneath strain within the eighth sport however rescued all 5 break factors he’d given up and went on to take that set.
He additionally held agency on a pair extra disaster factors within the second stanza and finally sealed a hard-earned victory after an hour and 45 minutes.
Over within the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, O’Connell had hoped to proceed what’s develop into a breakthrough season for him in opposition to the ever-improving American Fritz, however his likelihood went as soon as he had succumbed in an exhilarating first-set, 24-point tiebreak, happening to lose 7-6 (13-11) 6-4.
The Sydneysider, recent from his best-ever ATP event in Munich final week when he defeated Alexander Zverev and reached the semi-final, once more confirmed all his resilience as he saved a minimum of seven set factors, whereas even incomes a few his personal.
But he made a hash of an overhead, crashing it lengthy to reward Fritz an eighth set level and, this time, the American made no mistake, hammering an inside-out forehand to take the stanza after an hour earlier than one break proved sufficient for him within the second as O’Connell could not crack his supply.
Second seed Daniil Medvedev, a four-time winner on tour this season, knocked out qualifier Andrea Vavassori, Andy Murray’s shock conqueror, 6-4 6-3 in his first match of the week
Dusan Lajovic wanted six match factors earlier than lastly seeing off world No.9 Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-5), the Serb’s third win in a row over top-10 opponents after his triumph in Banja Luka the earlier week when he sensationally turned over his buddy Novak Djokovic.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
