The fairy-tale Australian summer continued for Alex De Minaur as he took his strong from from the Brisbane International to Sydney this week. De Minaur produced a consistent display to defeat an erratic Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-2.
De Minaur raced into a 4-1 lead as Verdasco failed to start well. The 18 year-old Australian broke twice in the first five games for a seemingly commanding lead. Verdasco then began to play tennis befitting a player who once held a ranking in the Top 10. The Spaniard recovered one break and held quickly.
De Minaur was faced with the task of serving out the set. He had to fight hard as Verdasco earned a few break points. De Minaur’s patience and accuracy, particularly on the forehand wing managed to frustrate the Spaniard, and he took the set.
Verdasco’s game quickly fell away in the second as, after holding his first service game, he was broken. Flat, but erratic forehand misses handed the break to De Minaur without too much effort. Verdaco refocused enough to force another break point in the next game. De Minaur had the answer though, as he ripped a stunning backhand down the line to save.
After failing to break, the errors flowed for Verdasco, as double faults and more bad errors on the forehand quickly gave De Minaur a double break. This time De Minaur did not give Verdasco a sniff of a comeback, extending his lead to 5-2.
Verdasco hit an eye-catching backhand return as De Minaur tried to serve out. The young Aussie then won four of the next five points to end the Spaniard’s involvement this week in the first round.
De Minaur will face 7th seed Damir Dzumhur in the next round. Dzumhur won his first round match against Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany. Dzumhur is currently at a career-high ranking of No.30.
