Australia’s young tennis star
Alex de Minaur has joined an
elite list of players after his recent heroics.
The 24-year-old defeated the former world number one Britain’s
Andy Murray in the round of 32 clash of the China Open with a score of 6-3, 5-7,
7-6 on Thursday.
Following that victory, De Minaur will become the only fourth
player in the history of men’s singles tennis to beat Britain’s tennis star
five times in a row.
The other three players are current world number one Serbia’s
Novak Djokovic, former world number one Switzerland’s Roger Federer and 22-time
Grand Slam winner Spain’s Rafael Nadal.
De Minaur will now face the winner of the match between America’s
Tommy Paul and Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.
The victory will be a major boost for the Sydney-born who
has had a tough year while competing at the highest level.
De Minaur played in all four Grand Slams but failed to
qualify in the quarterfinal or beyond in any of the competitions.
His most notable
outing came in the Australian Open and the US Open where he was knocked out
after losing the fourth-round tie.