21st seed Alex de Minaur is through to the quarter-finals of a grand Slam for the first time in his career after disposing of Canada’s Vasek Pospisil in straight sets.
The 21-year-old overcame some testing moments against the world No.94 to prevail 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-2, to follow up on his triumph over 11th seed Karen Khachanov in the previous round. Against Pospisil, who is one of three Canadian men to have reached the last 16 in the draw, de Minaur produced 16 winners to 13 unforced errors compared to his rivals more erratic tally of 43 and 48.
“Vasek is a hell of a player. He is very tricky and aggressive. If he had his day he’s going to blow me off the court, no worries, so I have to stay calm, do my thing and keep running,” he said afterwards.
Despite the straightforward score, the Australian was tested during his latest encounter at the Louis Armstrong Arena. In the opening tiebreak, he fell behind 2-6 before winning six consecutive points in a row to clinch the opener. Then in the second set de Minaur broke Pospisil twice in a row to open up a 5-1 cushion en route to the two-set lead.
“That first set was crucial. I think it was just a couple things going his way and then going my way. Then I ended up playing some good points in a row to get that tiebreak,” the Australian No.1 reflected.
“I just tried to stay calm, played a couple good points on my serve, hit a good return and got lucky.”
In pole position, the Next Gen star never looked to be in danger of losing his lead against a wary Pospisil who was wearing taping on his right leg from the onset. It would be another lacklustre service game from Pospisil that enabled de Minaur to break for love during the early stages of the third frame. Racing towards the finish line, the world No.28 closed out his clinical performance with a 112mph serve down the centre of the court that his opponent was unable to return.
The breakthrough run comes just over a week after de Minaur won a doubles title at the Western and Southern Open, which was held at the same venue in New York due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His partner in that tournament, Pablo Carreno Busta, is also through to the last eight after Novak Djokovic got disqualified from their match.
“It’s pretty crazy but I’m very happy to be back playing as a singles player that’s for sure,” he commented.
De Minaur will play either Dominic Thiem or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the next round. Coincidentally Thiem was the player who he played in his main draw debut at Flushing Meadows back in 2017.
