Ruthless Aussie Alex de Minaur takes less than 90 minutes to dismantle the man who last defeated Nick Kyrgios in the US Open carnage: ‘You always take a match without drama’
- The Minaur reaches the last 32 at Flushing Meadows
- It took just 86 minutes to get the win in straight sets
- Has a golden opportunity to penetrate deep into Open
Alex de Minaur has stormed into the third round of the US Open as if he had a ticket to Broadway.
Australia’s world number 13 dispatched Yibing Wu 6-1 6-2 6-1 in just 86 minutes and stormed into the last 32 for the fifth time in seven trips to New York.
A quarterfinalist in 2020, De Minaur likes the faster pace of Flushing Meadows and rushed through Thursday’s match in a very different way than his tedious four-set first-round dogfight against Kazakh qualifier Timofey Skatov.
Wu is the Chinese giant killer who not only dumped Stuttgart’s Nick Kyrgios when the grand slam finalist made his early return this year after a knee injury, but also rocked Denis Shapovalov and Taylor Fritz on his way to the finals on the Dallas hard courts in February .
But De Minaur broke him seven times, winning 82 percent of his first service points and committing a paltry ten unforced errors in 22 games, joining compatriot Rinky Hijikata in the last 32.
De Minaur wasted no time during his match against Yibing Wu to reach the last 32 of the US Open
“Matches are never easy, so if you get the chance to get away with a win like that, you definitely grab it,” said De Minaur.
“I don’t think he felt 100 percent today. It’s a shame for him, but at the end of the day it’s one of those games where I did what I had to do and was happy to be in the next round.
“I was proud of my mental headroom throughout the game. I was locked in from the first point to the last no matter what happened in the match.
“You always take a drama-free game.”
The thirteenth seed will play Nicolas Jarry on Sunday (AEST), after the world number 25 knocked out 17-year-old American wildcard Alex Michelsen 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-3
De Minaur was relentless, a huge step up from his first round match where he struggled to sideline Kazakh qualifier Timofey Skatov
Yibing sensationally defeated Australian No. 1 Nick Kyrgios earlier this year, with the Australian battling a host of injuries
De Minaur defeated the Chilean in two tiebreaks in their only previous meeting, on a hard court in Acapulco four years ago.
“He’s dangerous because he’s very big and has great serve and forehand,” said De Minaur.
“He’s got really good weapons that he can just flip the switch at any time and take the racket out of your hand.
“It’s going to be a tough game, in that I’ll have to do my best to keep him on the run and uncomfortable, and try not to let him dictate.”
Fellow Australian Chris O’Connell will look to follow the Minaur and Hijikata into the third round when he faces third-seeded 2021 Open champion Daniil Medvedev later in day four.
Wildcard Hijikata will face China’s world No. 67 Zhizhen Zhang on Friday (Saturday AEST) in his first Grand Slam appearance in the third round.