Alex de Minaur wants US Open doubles wildcard for himself and British fiancee Katie Boulter
Adamant he will be at his 'peak' over the next three years with an aim to make the most of his time at the top, de Minaur continued his winning ways at the DC Open by moving into his first ATP quarter-final in more than three months.
The 2018 winner, and seventh-seeded de Minaur, took down Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 as he plots a path to the US Open where his aim is to topple the top-10 players who have for so long stood in his path.
Now ranked 13 in the world, de Minaur double-faulted on his second match point in the second-set tiebreaker, but then 'dug really deep' to take the contest in three.
'I didn't want to lose having a match point in the second set and hitting a double fault,' he said.
'I told myself I was going to struggle to sleep at night, so I better do everything I can to try and win that match. It was a tough, tough match.'
It was a 19th hard court win for de Minaur this season and his 39th ATP 500 victory since the start of 2023 tied world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz for the most wins at that level.
The win also continued de Minaur's solid progress towards the US Open, hoping officials will 'give a little bit of love' to himself and Boulter to get into the revamped doubles, which will feature some of the world's best players.
Alcaraz is teaming up with Emma Raducanu, Nick Kyrgios is hoping to play with Naomi Osaka and de Minaur wants to play with Boulter.
'We'd be definitely asking for a wildcard, and we're definitely hoping for a wildcard,' he said.
'I think, why not give a little bit of love to a tennis couple?
'We have been going strong, it's been, what, five years already, getting married next year. I think we're showing that there is good chemistry between us.
'I think some of the other partnerships, they haven't really said a word to each other in their lives, right? At least we kind of know each other, so we can hopefully show some good chemistry and hopefully play some good matches there.'
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