Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing.
Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct.
“It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4, 2-0 when Altmaier retired.
Photo: AFP
“I’ve got nothing against Court 17, I’ve played some good matches on that court, but I kind of felt like maybe I could have played on a bigger court,” he said, “but, hey, the way I kind of look at these things when things kind of don’t play out the way I want them is just, I’ve got to win more matches, right? If I win enough matches, I’m sure I’ll play on bigger courts.”
De Minaur faces Swiss qualifier Leandro Reidi in the fourth round today, with Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime or Russian Andrey Rublev awaiting the winner in the last eight.
The 26-year-old, who has reached the quarter-finals at all four majors over the past two years, but never gone further, said he was used to going about his business away from the limelight.
“I feel like I’ve been under the radar my whole career, so it’s nothing new,” he said with a smile.
“The way I just go about my things is just let the tennis do the talking, right? And I take a lot of pride in that. Hopefully, I can be here in New York for much, much longer,” he said.
“For me, this was the first job done. Now on to the second week, which I’m quite excited for,” he added.
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