Alex de Minaur’s return to form continues with US Open win over ‘wounded’ Dan Evans

Alex de Minaur continued his impressive comeback after being injured all summer, reaching the fourth round of the US Open by beating an ailing Dan Evans 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-0 on Saturday night in New York.

With his victory, De Minaur becomes the first Australian Open player to reach the fourth round of all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single calendar year since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004. He is also the third Australian player to reach the second week in New York this year, joining Alexei Popyrin, who defeated Novak Djokovic on Friday night, and Jordan Thompson, his next opponent.

While De Minaur’s ambitions are greater than simply reaching the second week, this is a particularly impressive result given the tough summer he has endured. De Minaur had not played since injuring his hip on match point in his fourth-round match at Wimbledon, an injury that forced him to withdraw from his scheduled quarterfinal match with Djokovic and kept him out until the US Open. He entered the tournament with significant uncertainty surrounding his hip.

“It’s tough, of course, not playing tennis, not playing matches,” he said. “That aspect is there, but it was quite mentally draining. It wasn’t an easy time for me. I often felt like I was hitting a wall and just not getting better. So it was tough in that sense – not playing tennis and not going to tournaments.”

De Minaur continued to move cautiously at the start of the tournament, including not sliding on the hardcourt to ensure he didn’t further damage his vulnerable hip. But he seemed to become more comfortable with each match and against Evans he was sharp from the start. He controlled Evans’ tricky slice well and dictated much of the exchange by taking the ball early and closing the net.

Although Evans recovered well in the second set and played an excellent tiebreak to level the match, the physical strength required to consistently get the ball past De Minaur took its toll on the 34-year-old. Evans struggled at the start of the third set. He took a medical time-out for his hip at 3-0 in the set and his condition gradually deteriorated until he could barely move in the fourth set. Despite being lame for a considerable time, Evans refused to give up and played until the end.

“I think the first thing I have to show is a lot of respect for Dan,” De Minaur said. “He’s the ultimate competitor. He could have easily pulled out, his body clearly wasn’t feeling well, but he stayed there and did his best, so I really appreciated it.”

Evans’ tournament began with an incredible first-round performance, when he defeated 23rd seed Karen Khachanov after trailing 0-4, 15-40 in the fifth set of what would become the longest match in US Open history. But the five hours and 35 minutes Evans spent on court in his first round took their toll. While he was able to win efficiently against Mariano Navone in his second round, the physicality required to battle De Minaur pushed him over the edge.

Despite his defeat, this was a much-needed tournament for the Briton. He had arrived in New York after an incredibly difficult year in which he had struggled with multiple serious injuries, most recently a knee injury at Queen’s, and a difficult run of form that had seen him slip down the rankings. Evans will still be around 170 in the ATP rankings after the US Open and will have no choice but to return to ATP Challenger events and Grand Slam qualifying. But his performances have shown that he can still compete at a high level.

“A little bit of me is obviously hurt,” Evans said. “I thought my chances against Demon [De Minaur]but it wasn’t meant to be. The trek was fun, and I’ve been waiting for a long time, to see something like that, but I wasn’t good enough. I’ll probably sleep well for the next four or five days and I’ll get over it pretty quickly. It was a great week. I came to America with no expectations and a lot of doubts, and I left with a lot of clarity that I can still do it at a higher level, not quite at the highest level, but at the higher level.”

De Minaur faces a fourth-round clash with his good friend Thompson on Monday. Thompson defeated 30th-seeded Matteo Arnaldi on Saturday. “It’s great Aussie tennis, we’re just showing what we can do,” De Minaur said. “We go all out in tournaments and look, it’s a good problem to have. It’s exciting. We grew up together. Well, I grew up with him and we’ve played a lot. I’m expecting an absolute battle.”

On Saturday night, top seed Iga Swiatek eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and fifth-seeded men’s Daniil Medvedev defeated Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4, 6-3