Alex de Minaur will have to play three times in three days – and seven matches in 12 days if he wants to win the US Open – after some scheduling chaos for the Aussie at the US Open. And Wednesday’s action (local time) was rocked by some big names crashing out.
De Minaur comfortably cleared his first hurdle at Flushing Meadows with a 6-2 6-2 6-4 victory over Andrea Guerrieri. But the Aussie tennis star has been completely dudded by the schedule and wet weather in New York.
Andrey Rublev (L) and Rafael Jodar (R) both crashed out, while Alex de Minaur (centre) advanced but has a brutal schedule. Image: Getty/ESPN
De Minaur was originally slated to play his first-round match on day three of the tournament, which is already a tricky situation considering other players have been resting up since winning on day one. But the Aussie’s match was then pushed to day four due to wet weather on Tuesday night.
The World No.7’s match finally got underway on Wednesday, but was then suspended for over an hour due to more rain. He eventually prevailed and advanced comfortably, but his schedule has suddenly become very tricky.
The Aussie star will play again on Thursday (Friday Aussie time) against 70th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp, and will have to play three matches in three days if he wins through. If he manages to make the final in New York he’ll have to play seven best-of-five matches in the space of just 12 days.
To sum up the chaos that de Minaur has endured, Daniil Medvedev and Alex Michelsen had already won their second-round matches BEFORE the Aussie had even stepped on court for his first. It means de Minaur will face a distinct disadvantage in not having as much rest as some rivals.
Alex de Minaur was too good for Andrea Guerrieri at the US Open. (Photo by Pete Staples/USTA via Getty Images)
More seeded players crash out of US Open
The draw was blown wide open on Wednesday when seeded players Rafael Jodar (12), Brandon Nakashima (16) and Andrey Rublev (23) all crashed out. Jodar lost his first-round match to Yunchaokete Bu, while Rublev and Nakashima lost in the second round – to Michelsen and Daniel Merida Aguilar respectively.
They joined Novak Djokovic (4), Arthur Fils (10), Cameron Norrie (29) and Matteo Arnaldi (30) as seeded men to crash out early, while Casper Ruud (19) withdrew before his first match. On the women’s side, Jelana Ostapenko (30) lost to Tatjana Maria, joining other big-name casualties in Belinda Bencic (12), Maja Chwalinska (20), Barbora Krejcikova (27) and Sara Bejlek (28).
For the Aussie contingent, Daria Kasatkina lost to Paula Badosa in a match that was postponed overnight with Badosa only two points away from victory. Taylah Preston was no match for Taylor Townsend, losing 6-1 6-1 in just 48 minutes, while Kim Birrell went down to Ekaterina Alexandrova in three.