Alex de Minaur grew to become the primary native participant since John Newcombe to succeed in the fourth spherical of the Australian Open 5 years in a row.
The world No. 6 endured some tense moments to advance to the spherical of 16 with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over American slugger Francis Tiafoe on Friday night time.
It took De Minaur two hours and 43 minutes to defeat the twenty ninth seed who by no means gave up on Rod Laver Enviornment.
In his first event match towards a seeded opponent, De Minaur picked up his fourth win in 5 matches towards the proficient however usually egocentric Tiafoe.
The 2 main semifinalists successfully handed the primary set to de Minaur after a sequence of unforced errors.
De Minaur broke serve twice within the second set and appeared to interrupt Tiafoe’s spirit.
Nonetheless, Tiafoe obtained one break and compelled de Minaur to finish the set.
In the beginning of the third set, a member of the viewers fell unwell and needed to take a brief break, however that did not appear to cease the Australians’ momentum instantly.
Tiafoe gave de Minaur a little bit of a scare within the closing phases, successful again serve and defending match level.
Nonetheless, “Demon” broke again at 5-5 earlier than serving for the match.
“Francis is a hell of a competitor and a hell of a participant. It was a hell of a battle,” De Minaur mentioned. “I performed two and a half units of my finest tennis within the event, and he simply lifted it when he wanted to.
“In my head, I do not affiliate taking part in in Australia with strain, I affiliate it with simply pleasure.
“I knew from a younger age that this was the place I wished to be, the place I wished to play in entrance of a sold-out crowd.
“I’m actually fortunate to be on this place.
“Sure, it may be tense at instances, however that is as a result of I need it to be, and I am going to do my finest.”
De Minaur faces No. 10 seed Alexander Bublik or Tomas Martin Echeverry of Kazakhstan within the fourth spherical on Sunday, and will face world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz within the quarterfinals.
