Washington (United States) (AFP) – Defending Washington Open champion Alex de Minaur beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to set up an all-Australian quarter-final clash with teen Cruz Hewitt. Seeking to defend his crown in the US capital, top seed De Minaur broke back to take the first set and rallied in the third to overcome the Greek former world number three. He will play 17-year-old Hewitt in the next round, after the son of Aussie great Lleyton Hewitt captured his first-ever ATP Tour victory earlier this week.
De Minaur’s victory came despite a poor record against Tsitsipas, who had won 12 of their prior 13 encounters. “It’s no secret my head-to-head isn’t the greatest against him. He’s gotten the better of me many, many times,” said De Minaur. “I’m happy with how it went today…played the match on its own merits, and ultimately found a way in a tricky, tricky match.” World number six De Minaur has steadily risen up the rankings in recent years and said many of his early losses to Tsitsipas had come when “I wasn’t probably the player that I was today.”
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De Minaur got off to a shaky start, surviving a break point in the fourth game, before handing Tsitsipas the sixth game with two consecutive double faults. But he fought back immediately with two breaks of his own and then survived another break point in the 10th game to win the first set 6-4. Tsitsipas broke first again in the second set and held on to force a deciding set. However, De Minaur took advantage of an unforced error by Tsitsipas in the third set’s fourth game and held firm for the win.
The Australian joked that he will not be offended if his country’s Davis Cup captain — former world number one Lleyton Hewitt — supports his opponent in the next round. “I would expect him to be in his son’s box, and rightfully so,” said De Minaur. “Lleyton has been an immense help for me in my career.”
Earlier Wednesday, Filipina rising star Alexandra Eala dumped out defending women’s champion Leylah Fernandez to reach the quarter-finals. Eala, 21, defeated the seventh seed from Canada 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) for a place in the last eight, battling back from 5-1 down in an epic second set. It continues a breakout season for Eala, who last month made global headlines by beating Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon to become the first Philippines player to reach the last 16 of a Grand Slam, and has soared to 28th in the world rankings.
“Everything’s kind of a blur right now. I really made an effort to stay in the moment, and I was ready for anything that could have happened,” Eala said. Either second-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina or Uzbekistan’s Polina Kudermetova await Eala in the next round.
© 2024 AFP
