London: Australian title hope Alex de Minaur refuses to look any further than his next match as his wide-open Wimbledon draw presents a golden opportunity for a career-best grand slam run.
The world No.6 breezed into the third round at Wimbledon without dropping a set for the second time in his career, dispatching Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, in a rematch of their recent s’Hertogenbosch semi-final.
Alex De Minaur stretches for a forehand.Getty Images
De Minaur was on and off the court inside two hours, which was helpful on a steamy London day, and he awaits American Zachary Svadja, who ousted s’Hertogenbosch champion Kamil Majchrzak, 2-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3 across almost three hours.
He is a seven-time quarter-finalist at the majors, including reaching that stage at Wimbledon two years ago before gifting Novak Djokovic a walkover due to a hip injury, but has not been able to go beyond that.
However, de Minaur is guaranteed not to face a higher-ranked opponent until at least the semi-finals after American Ben Shelton’s shock five-set loss in the first round.
“The way I look at it is I’m in the third round. I want to go deep, of course. I want to give myself that opportunity,” de Minaur said.
“But sadly, as much as I would love to just jump a couple of steps and put myself already in that Sunday match [the final], there are lots of matches and lots of tough moments that I’ve got to get through. I only got told who I was playing in the next round at the end of my match.
“Seeds lose. Upsets happen. This sport is unpredictable. It’s not straightforward, so whether you’re ranked higher than your opponent, it really means nothing when you go into the match. You both start the same.”
De Minaur’s first serve got him out of a lot of trouble – he won 80 per cent of those points, hit seven aces, and many more went unreturned – and he made more of them as the match wore on after pivoting from his pre-match strategy.
De Minaur has not lost a set in his first two wins this week.Getty Images
“Part of the game plan early on was to try to have a high percentage of first serves, and maybe take a little bit of pace off, try to jam it into the body a little bit [but] it wasn’t really working,” he said.
“I was missing a lot of first serves without any pace, and then, funnily enough, in a couple of big moments, where I went for my serves and started to drop a little bit more of heat, I ended up serving better. Today, I went after my serves – and it was big.”
Mannarino’s awkward game meant it was difficult for de Minaur to find rhythm at times, but it was apparent early in the contest that the Australian had the wily veteran’s measure.
That said, de Minaur still offered Mannarino 11 break points, and the Frenchman converted only two of them, so he will need to find another gear. But the numbers told the story: de Minaur blasted 20 winners to Mannarino’s eight, on top of committing 10 fewer unforced errors.
“What I have learned is the first week is all about trying to survive and advance,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter how you do it, whether it’s pretty, whether it’s ugly, whether you play your best match or your worst match. As long as you get through, you give yourself a chance.”