Australian rising star Alex de Minaur has vowed to live up to his ‘Demon’ nickname after unleashing his attacking prowess to book a quarter-final spot in the Sydney International.
De Minaur was leading Damir Dzumhur 6-2 3-0 on Wednesday when the world No.30 retired to become the teenager’s fourth top-50 scalp in a stunning week.
The Sydney local will now await the winner of Feliciano Lopez and third seed Diego Schwartzman for what would be his second semi-final in as many tournaments.
“I’m enjoying every second of it. It’s great. I’m playing some unbelievable tennis, and I just want to keep it going, really,” de Minaur said after the match.
In contrast to his victory over Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday, when he showed off his trademark defensive game, de Minaur dictated proceedings against his Bosnian counterpart.
De Minaur twice broke Dzumhur in the first set, and refused to let up in the second with an early inroad before the frustrated 25-year-old called it quits.
He had a total nine break points – converting five – compared to Dzumhur’s one.
De Minaur admitted his confidence had soared after clinching a spot in the main draw of next week’s Australian Open during last month’s wildcard playoffs.
And now he intends on letting ‘the demon’ loose as he continues to ride the Aussie wave.
“It’s all about match-ups. Every day is a different day, different opponent, different type of game you have to play to win,” de Minaur said.
“I felt like today I had to dictate more and take it on and be aggressive, and that’s what my game plan was. I was glad I was able to execute.
“I always knew I had the level, but I didn’t think I had the belief when I stepped out on court. But now I’ve got that belief in me that I can go toe to toe with lots of guys out there.
“So I’m going into every match believing in myself and believing in my ability.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the string of Sydney upsets continued when men’s top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas was bundled out in his opening match of the tournament.
After enjoying a first-round bye, Spanish world No. 22 Ramos-Vinolas crashed to a 6-3 7-5 loss to Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi.
Russian qualifier Danlil Medvedev, fourth seed Fabio Fognini, fifth seed Adrian Mannarino and Frenchman Benoit Paire also all advanced to the quarter-final stage.
