Alex de Minaur continued his impressive return to form after being sidelined with injury throughout the summer as he returned to the fourth round of the US Open by outlasting an ailing Dan Evans 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-0 on Saturday night in New York.
With his victory, De Minaur is the first Australian Open man to reach the fourth round of all four grand slam tournaments in a calendar year since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004. He is also the third Australian player to reach the second week in New York this year alongside Alexei Popyrin, who defeated Novak Djokovic on Friday night, and Jordan Thompson, his next opponent.
While De Minaur’s ambitions are greater than simply reaching the second week, this is a particularly impressive result considering the testing summer he has endured. De Minaur had not competed since he injured his hip right on match point in his fourth round match at Wimbledon, an injury that forced him to withdraw before his scheduled quarter-final match with Djokovic and had sidelined him until the US Open. He started the tournament with significant uncertainty around his hip.
“It’s tricky, obviously, not playing tennis, not competing,” he said. “There’s that aspect of it, but it was quite draining mentally. It was not an easy time for me. A lot of repeatedly feeling like I’m walking into a wall and just not getting better. So it was tough in that sense – not playing tennis and not being around tournaments.”
De Minaur was still moving with caution at the start of the tournament, including opting not to slide on the hard court to ensure that he did not further damage his vulnerable hip. But he has looked increasingly comfortable with every match and against Evans, he was sharp from the beginning. He managed Evans’ tricky slice well and dictated many of the exchanges by taking the ball early and closing down the net.
Although Evans recovered well in the second set, playing an excellent tiebreak to level the match, the physicality it takes to consistently put the ball past De Minaur left its mark on the 34-year-old. By the start of the third set, Evans was struggling badly. He took a medical timeout for his hip at 3-0 in the set and his condition gradually worsened until he could barely move in the fourth set. Despite being hobbled for a significant amount of time, Evans refused to retire and played until the end.
“I think the first thing I should show is a lot of respect to Dan,” said De Minaur. “He’s the ultimate competitor. He could have easily pulled out, the body was obviously not feeling well but he stayed out there and tried his best so I really appreciated it.”
Evans’ tournament had begun with an incredible first round performance as he defeated the 23rd seed Karen Khachanov after trailing 0-4, 15-40 in the fifth set of what would become the longest match in the history of the US Open. But the five hours, 35 minutes Evans spent on court in his first round match took its toll. Although he was able to win efficiently in his second round match against Mariano Navone, the physicality required to battle with De Minaur pushed him over the edge.
Despite his defeat, this was a much needed tournament for the Briton. He had arrived in New York after an incredibly difficult year that has seen him struggle with multiple significant injuries, most recently a knee injury at Queen’s, and difficult form that has sent him tumbling down the rankings. Evans will still be around 170 in the ATP rankings after the US Open and he will have no choice but to return to ATP Challenger events and grand slam qualifying. But his performances have shown him that he can still compete at a high level.
“A bit of me is wounded of course,” said Evans. “I fancied my chances against Demon [De Minaur], but it wasn’t to be. The draw was nice, and that’s what I’ve waited for for a long time, to see something like that, but I wasn’t good enough. I’ll sleep well for probably the next four or five days and I’ll be over that pretty quick. It’s been an amazing week. I came to America with no expectations and a lot of doubt, and I left with a lot of clarity that I can still do it at the higher level, not quite the top level, but the higher level.”
For De Minaur, a fourth round battle with his good friend Thompson is next on Monday. Thompson toppled Matteo Arnaldi, the 30th seed, on Saturday. “It is great that Aussie tennis, we’re just showing what we can do,” De Minaur said. “We’re putting ourselves in deep end of tournaments and look, it’s a good problem to have. It’s exciting. We’ve grown up together. Well, I’ve grown up with him, and we’ve played many times. I’m expecting an absolute battle.”
On Saturday night, the top seed Iga Swiatek comfortably reached the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and men’s fifth seed Daniil Medvedev defeated Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
