Alex de Minaur is hoping to seize the moment after denying great mate Jordan Thompson in a titanic all-Australian fourth-round US Open showdown to notch another significant milestone in his stellar grand slam season.
De Minaur put friendship to the side to end Thompson’s spirited Open campaign with a hard-earned 6-0 3-6 6-3 7-5 victory and become the first Aussie since Lleyton Hewitt 20 years ago to reach three consecutive slam quarter-finals.
His stocks rising with every win, the 10th seed will next face English world No.25 Jack Draper on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) in an Ashes-like battle for a coveted place in the last four.
After arriving in New York under a fitness cloud and with “low expectations”, de Minaur has regained belief and form to move quietly into title reckoning.
With heavyweights Novak Djokovic, the dethroned defending champion, and Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon titleholder, already eliminated, de Minaur’s opportunity knocks.
“It’s been a whirlwind. The last seven, eight weeks, I’ve dealt with a lot of emotions, a lot of experiences that have taken a big chunk of my energy and resources,” he said.
“Coming in, I didn’t have too many expectations. The hip wasn’t close to 100 per cent. It wasn’t feeling amazing. I just was going to go out there and see what I was able to do.
“Slowly it’s been feeling better and better each day.
“So all of a sudden, everything has happened with the draws, a lot of upsets, and you’re staring at this opportunity.”
Despite showing his childhood friend and Davis Cup teammate little mercy, Thompson fought tooth and nail and threatened to drag the match in to a deciding set before de Minaur’s class and relentlessness ultimately prevailed.
Even after Thompson finally won a game after being bagelled in the first set, then broke from 40-0 down to snatch the second, there was no let-up from de Minaur as he went swiftly back to work on Labor Day in America.
The French, Wimbledon and now US Open quarter-finalist regained the ascendancy to claim a two-sets-to-one lead, and there was more racquet smashing and berating his box from Thompson as he sensed the match slipping away.
With one last stand, Thompson broke early in the fourth set to raise hopes of a famous underdog comeback.
But there was nothing friendly about de Minaur immediately striking back before finally subduing Thompson after a seesawing four-break fourth set to take victory after two hours 57 minutes.
For all the first-week heroics of Thompson and Novak Djokovic slayer Alexei Popyrin, de Minaur is once again Australia’s last man standing at the season’s final major.
The standardbearer’s feat of making three consecutive grand slam quarters is one that eluded even former world No.1 Ash Barty and former women’s US Open champion Samantha Stosur during distinguished careers.
No Australian has managed it since Hewitt in 2004-05.
The dual major winner followed up forays to the last eight at Roland Garros and Wimbledon with charges to successive finals at Flushing Meadows and Melbourne Park.
After also becoming the first Australian since Hewitt two decades ago to make the second week of all four majors in a calendar year, de Minaur will now be hoping to further emulate his Davis Cup captain’s 2001 and 2004 accomplishments by going all the way to the final.
He has a golden opportunity having won all three previous encounters with Draper, including the past two on hard courts.
If he can continue his march through the draw, de Minaur will meet either world No.1 Jannik Sinner or fifth-seeded 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in his maiden grand slam semi.
While it’s the end of the road for Thompson, the 30-year-old will leave the Big Apple with a half-a-million-dollar payday and a career-high ranking of world No.29 to be on course for a first-time grand slam seeding at the Australian Open in January.
