Australian number one Alex de Minaur quickly recovered after a dip in his level to advance to the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp on Tuesday.
While much of the pre-Grand Slam interest has focused on the return of maverick Nick Kyrgios, lAustralians will bet on De Minaur to end 49-year wait for a men’s singles champion at Melbourne Park.
The eighth seed showed himself as a potential champion, because He won the first set in 26 minutes, gave up just 13 points, before cementing his dominance with an early break in the next set to take a 3-1 lead.
Something went wrong from there and De Minaur’s untimely forehand error allowed Van de Zandschulp to level the contestbut it was in tough situations that the Australian shined, and he saved two set points to maintain a 5-5 lead.
De Minaur raised his fist and let out an emotional roar after breaking in the next game and then closed out the second set with an ace to draw cheers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd.
It was he who joined the fans in cheering Van de Zandschulp, world number 84, after the Dutchman sneaked behind the court and hit a stunning tweener en route to an emphatic third-set victory.
But De Minaur broke again in the ninth game and closed out the victory on his serve in the next to meet American Tristan Boyer, who defeated Argentine Federico Coria 6-3, 6-7(3), 4-6, 7-5 and 6-1.
Source: La Verdad
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