Alex de Minaur complains about crowd's behaviour during Rome Open second-round win

Australia’s Alex de Minaur was forced to stop during the Rome Open second-round encounter to complain about the behaviour of a spectator. The 26-year-old registered his spot in the round of 32 after beating Italy’s Luca Nardi in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-5.

During the first set, when the game was equal at 4-4, De Minaur was about to serve but was forced to stop because a member of the crowd kept disrespecting him. He complained to the chair umpire, who could be heard during the contest as per English media outlet Daily Express, “Can you please stop that, sir?”. Later, the chair umpire asked to send further security as well. “Roland, can we send security up to the guy, please?” he said.

Those comments, however, did not deter the Australian tennis star who came out on top in straight sets. Talking after the match, De Minaur stated that he did what he had to cement a spot in the next round of the competition.

“I did what I needed to do today,” he said. “It wasn’t easy by any means, it was a tough match. The tennis, I don’t think was great from both sides, but sometimes you’ve got to play with the cards you’re dealth and that was today. I did my best to stay focused and stay as strong as I could mentally, that was what helped me out today. To be honest, I think throughout the whole match, I had a lot of chances that I didn’t take. I think I did well to not lose my head! Because it would’ve been quite easy to get frustrated after having so many chances to break and not being able to get it over the line.”

De Minaur will now face Hugo Dellien in the third round of the competition on Monday. The 31-year-old cemented his spot in the round of 32 after beating Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.