Alex De Minaur cruised past Matteo Arnaldi 6-3 6-0 6-3 to reach the third round at the Australian Open on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
De Minaur committed 29 unforced errors compared to 52 for Arnaldi and won 18 of 19 points at the net.
De Minaur has improved his seasonal record to 5-1. Earlier this month the Australian player beat Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev at the United Cup moving up to number 10 in the ATP Ranking.
De Minaur saved two break points in the first set before breaking twice in the third and ninth games to win the first set 6-3. The Australian player won 85% of points on Arnaldi’s second serve and broke three times en route to taking a bagel win in the second set.
De Minaur raced out to a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. Arnaldi pulled back on serve in the fifth game and held serve in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. De Minaur earned a break point in the eighth game with a smash after a 20-point rally and converted it to take a 5-3 lead.
“I am pleased to be through to the third round after spent less than four hours on court. I think so far I have done what I needed to do to win the matches. It has not been probably the prettiest of levels or my best level. I played two opponents where maybe I have not been allowed to be as aggressive as I would like, because they have got a lot of firepower, but I have got a lot more to show. Over the years you have come to learn how important it is to conserve the energy because it is a long two weeks if you want to get to the end of the tournament, and that’s ultimately the goal. Now I have learnt that the first week is all about getting through, finding ways to get through”, said De Minaur.
Arnaldi helped Italy beat Australia in last November’s Davis Cup final with his win over Alexei Popyrin. The Italian player is familiar to Australia, as his girlfriend hails from Melbourne.
“I thought I just had to be solid here, use the crowd. Arnaldi is a hell of a player, a very exciting player, has a lot of firepower and has a very high level”, said De Minaur.
De Minaur set up a third round match against Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, who beat Pavel Kotov 7-5 3-6 5-7 6-2 in 3 hours and 16 minutes.
Cobolli earned his first break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Kotov broke back in the seventh game and held to love to draw level to 4-4. Cobolli sealed the first set 7-5 with his second break in the 12th game.
Both players earned a break point in the first two games, but they did not convert them. Cobolli held his serve at deuce in the seventh game before breaking serve in the eighth game to clinch the second set 6-3.
Both players traded breaks in the first two games of the third set. Cobolli earned two break points in the fifth and ninth games, but Kotov saved them. The Russian player won the third set 7-5 with a break on his second set point. Cobolli broke serve in the third and seventh games and saved three break points in the fourth and sixth games to win the fourth set 6-2.
