World number 13
Alex de Minaur has
achieved a milestone after his impressive outing in the ongoing
Japan Open.
The 24-year-old defeated Argentina’s
Diego Schwartzman in straight sets in the round of 16 with a score of 6-0 and
7-5.
While doing so, he became the first
Australian player to book his place in the 10 quarterfinals in a single season
since the former world number one Lleyton Hewitt did it in 2004.
De Minaur will be hoping to
continue his winning run in the competition, especially after a disappointing
outing in the recently concluded Shanghai Masters where he was knocked out from
the round of 64 after losing to Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in straight sets with
a score of 6-3, 7-5.
He is now set to face Russia’s Aslan
Karatsev in the last-eight stage of the competition. It will be the third time when
both players will meet on the tennis court. In the previous two meetings, both
players ended up winning on one occasion.
In the second round of the Sofia
Open in 2020, De Minaur came out on top against the 30-year-old with a score of
6-4, 7-6.
Earlier this year in the Madrid
Open, Karatsev managed to get revenge for that defeat as he registered a win
in three sets against the 24-year-old with a score of 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.