New Delhi: Alex de Minaur entered the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time, beating giant-killing American Alex Michelsen 6-0, 7-6(7-5), 6-3 on Tuesday to set up a showdown with top-ranked defending champion Jannik Sinner.
The Australian got the better of the 20-year-old Michelsen in a topsy-turvy three set contest. Michelsen had beaten 11th seed Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets in the opening round and then stunned 19th seed Karen Khachanov in three sets in the third round.
The eight seeded De Minaur advanced to the quarter-finals of all the four Grand Slams to book a date with Italian SInner, who reached his 15th consecutive quarterfinals at the major tournaments.
The 25-year-old is the 35th Aussie to qualify for the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park and only third after Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios to reach the stage since 2005.
‘Aim for bigger and better things’
De Minaur won in two hours and 10 minutes TO improve his record against players ranked lower than him at the Australian Open to 17-0.
“It means the world. There is nothing I want to do more than play well here in Australia in front of you guys. I am glad I finally made it to the quarter-finals. Let’s go for bigger and better things,” he said after his win.
De Minaur had reached the fourth round for the fourth straight year in Melbourne and set the pace early on as Michelsen struggled to get hold of his bearings.
In front of a cheering home crowd at Rod Laver Arena, De Minaur won the first eight games but Michelsen regrouped to land a few heavy forehands and force a tie-break in the second set.
“I had my opportunities in the second set to maybe run away with that and not let him in sight of the match, but I was not able to close out,” De Minaur said.
“He raised his level and made it a tough match. That second set was pivotal and I was happy to bounce back after not a game to get broken. That second set was massive.”
After winning the tie-break to claim the second set, De Minaur pulled away in the third, saving only a break point before serving out the match to improve to a 2-1 head-to-head record over Michelsen.
Alex de Minaur defeated Alex Michelsen 6-0, 7-6(7-5), 6-3 on Tuesday to set up a showdown with top-ranked defending champion Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
