By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Alex de Minaur leads a strong Australian charge into the U.S. Open round of 16, after he overcame worrisome injury issues early in the tournament to beat Briton Dan Evans in the third round on Saturday.
The 10th seed is the first Australian man in two decades to reach the fourth round at all four Grand Slams in one year, after he got into the fourth round at the Australian Open and the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
He is joined in the second week by compatriots Alexei Popyrin, who executed a stunning upset of defending champion Novak Djokovic on Friday, and Jordan Thompson, whom he will play next.
“Aussie tennis is showing what we can do with putting ourselves in the deep end of the tournament. And look, it’s a good problem to have the fact that (Thompson and I are) playing each other in the fourth round,” he told reporters.
“I’m expecting an absolute battle.”
De Minaur had looked in doubt for his second-round match in New York amid ongoing struggles with a hip injury, after he pulled out of his Wimbledon quarter-final against Djokovic in July with a cartilage tear.
But the 10th seed found a way to carry on, beating Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen in straight sets before knocking out Briton Dan Evans 6-3 6-7(4) 6-0 6-0 on Saturday at Louis Armstrong Stadium to reach the fourth round for the second year in a row.
“There was stages there where I was sliding from the back of the court and even coming to the net and sliding into volleys and moving quite fluidly, which is something that I definitely haven’t done as of yet in this tournament,” he said.
“It’s exactly the way I want to be trending now.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by William Mallard)
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