The Australian men’s assault at the Cincinnati Open has continued with gusto thanks to Alex de Minaur and Rinky Hijikata.<\/p>\n
A day after James Duckworth, Adam Walton and Chris O’Connell scored first-round wins, but Thanasi Kokkinakis was beaten, de Minaur was pushed to his limits at the final Masters 1000 event before the US Open at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n
Having dropped the first set in just 26 minutes, fifth seed de Minaur, who received an opening-round bye, responded to defeat Quentin Halys 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).<\/p>\n
The Frenchman had won their only previous meeting, a Miami Masters hard-court clash, back in 2023.<\/p>\n
De Minaur lost his opening two service games of the match, but was not broken again en route to setting up a round-of-32 clash with Brit Arthur Fery, who saw off Duckworth, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, (7-4) in a tick over two-and-a-half hours.<\/p>\n
It will be the first clash on tour between de Minaur and the 32nd-seeded French-born Fery.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Saturday (Sunday AEST), 25-year-old wildcard Hijikata beat 19th seed Luciano Darderi, of Italy, 6-4, 6-2 to set up his last-32 match with 14th seed Jakub Mensik.<\/p>\n
Novak Djokovic was beaten in three sets, by Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante.<\/p>\n
Miomir Kecmanovic, Hubert Hurkacz and Mattia Bellucci were also defeated.<\/p>\n
Playing his first match \u200csince losing a Wimbledon semifinal to Jannik Sinner, 39-year-old Djokovic struggled in the heat and required a \u200cmedical timeout in a disappointing US Open tune-up.<\/p>\n
“Congrats to my opponent,” Djokovic said after losing to the world number 50.<\/p>\n
“It was not an enjoyable match for me, for sure. The way I felt. Not the first and I guess not the last time, but it is what it is.”<\/p>\n
The Serbian \u2014 a three-time Cincinnati Open champion and number five in the rankings \u2014 will look to regroup before heading to New York, where he \u2060will seek a record-extending 25th grand slam singles \u200btitle.<\/p>\n
“I think this is the best win of my career,” Tirante said.<\/p>\n
“I think I really did a good job inside the court. I managed very well the nerves of playing against a legend like Novak.”<\/p>\n
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