It took until the second week of the US Open for the No.8 seed to be given a slot on one of the three show courts, but having finally been granted a premium placing Alex de Minaur has wasted no time putting on a show.
In truth the Australian No.1 did not play at his best, but he did not need to as his opponent, Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi, made a slew of errors.
De Minaur did, however, show flashes of genius in putting away the world No.435 6-3 6-2 6-1 in 93 minutes.
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The last Australian in the adult singles, de Minaur thus eased into a third New York quarter-final where he will meet world No.27 Felix Auger-Aliassime who beat Russia’s Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-3 6-4 in two hours, 16 minutes.
The Canadian will be a far tougher test than Riedi who froze under pressure and played a poor game tactically, feeding de Minaur’s brilliant returning by trying in vain to blast the Aussie off court.
Indeed, the only time the Australian looked mildly flustered was when he was asked, in the post-match interview, to demonstrate his command of Spanish to the many Hispanic fans in the crowd, but even then he soon regained his composure.
De Minaur’s match was first up on Louis Armstrong Court on Monday (local time), with a decent but not full crowd basking in relatively moderate — for New York — 25C sunshine.
The first set turned on three breaks mid-set. De Minaur won two of them, and that gave him control of the match.
In the second set he swiftly moved to 5-0 only to be surprisingly broken. But he served out at the second opportunity.
Any thoughts of a revival by the Swiss were quickly extinguished when de Minaur broke to love in game three of the third set. Riedi had a point to break back but failed to take it and de Minaur broke again, then again, the match ending with his opponent’s ninth double-fault.
“I was happy with my level, my focus,” said de Minaur.
“I knew he had some big shots and he’s had a hell of a week coming through quallies.
”I’m super proud of what I’m doing. Ultimately this is where I want to be, playing for the big titles, being in contention. I am putting myself in the right places.
“I’ve got another great opportunity coming up in the quarter-finals, I’m gonna go out and have a swing.”
It has been a six-year struggle for de Minaur in the last-eight stage at grand slams.
First making the quarters at the 2020 US Open, he was beaten by eventual champion Dominic Thiem and has since lost quarter-finals at four more majors — all in the past 18 months.
De Minaur and Auger-Aliassime have met three times prior, with the latter holding a 2-1 lead including their only previous outdoor hardcourt meeting, in Cincinnati in 2022.
“His movement is so good, but now he comes to the net,” said Auger-Aliassime of de Minaur.
“He has added to his game, being able to take the ball early and put pressure on his opponent — if I let him.”
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