Alex de Minaur takes crucial step as Aussies create 30-year first at Wimbledon
De Minaur made the sad admission recently that he was mentally and physically exhausted from tennis and needed to take a short break after his shock second-round loss to Alexander Bublik at the French Open last month. Australia's top-ranked male then lost to eventual Queen's finalist Jiri Lehecka in his only other grass-court outing in the past month, before beating Popyrin 6-3 6-4 in the Boodles invitation event on Thursday.
The now-traditional pre-Wimbledon exhibition is a five-day tournament featuring some of the world's best players in a typical British garden party setting at the Stoke Park Club. And while tougher tests lie in store at the All England Club next month, de Minaur says it was just what he needed heading into the year's third grand slam.
"I think this was a very important match for me to kind of get back on track, to get a match played in competitive spirit, and kind of try to put in place all the things I've been working on, and feel those match-type nerves," the World No.11 said. "Going into Wimbledon now, I feel ready and excited to compete.
"I love this time of the year. It's always a lot of fun. I think it's a surface that suits my game-style really well and, hopefully I can come play some good tennis in the coming weeks." De Minaur and World No.20 Popyrin are the two Australian men seeded for Wimbledon and will learn their first-round opponents in Friday's draw.
De Minaur was a quarter-finalist at the All England Club last year and says 'being mentally refreshed' and 'trusting his game' will be key to his hopes this year. "In the past, I've played some great tennis at Wimbledon, so it's about trusting myself and knowing that I can go out there and do it, just committing to my shots."
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De Minaur will be joined in the Wimbledon main draw by 16 other Aussies in the nation's biggest contingent since 1995. Priscilla Hon, Talia Gibson, Aex Bolt and James McCabe became the latest to book their spots in qualifying, with Hon and Gibson both surviving match points.
The news wasn't as good for 16-year-old rising star Emerson Jones, who failed at the final hurdle as she sought to become the youngest Australian player since Ash Barty to make the singles main draw. But Hon - who was down 6-5 and then 0-40 in her clash with Canada's Victoria Mboko - saved five match points and mounted a stunning comeback to earn victory and book her spot.
Gibson also saved a match point at 5-3 in the third set before winning the next four games to progress to her first Wimbledon main draw. McCabe qualified on his first try by taking down the No.5 seed Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera in four sets. It came as 19-year-old Aussie Maya Joint - already qualified for Wimbledon - reached the semi-finals of the Eastbourne event with a straight-sets quarter-final win over Russian Anna Blinkova.
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