Alex de Minaur crashes back to earth as Aussie faces losing important US Open spot

Yahoo

a day ago

Aussie tennis star Alex de Minaur is facing the prospect of dropping out of the top eight in the rankings ahead of the US Open after a shock defeat to Reilly Opelka at the Cincinnati Open. De Minaur was heading into the tournament in stellar form having only lost to Ben Shelton on hard court since the start of his North American campaign.
However, the Aussie has succumbed to his second straight defeat having lost 7-6 6-4 to big-serving American Opelka in his first match at the Cincinnati Open. Opelka hadn't beaten de Minaur in five-straight matches, but the American won 76 per cent of his first serves with the Aussie unable to convert his limited break point opportunities.
Unfortunately for de Minaur, his two consecutive defeats place him in danger of dropping down from his World No.8 position. Holger Rune, Lorenzo Musetti or Andrey Rublev all have the opportunity to overtake de Minaur if they go deep into the tournament.
This would come as a huge blow for de Minaur with the Aussie working his way back into the top eight, which is a favourable position for grand slams. At this stage, de Minaur wouldn't face any player seeded higher than him until the quarter-final of the US Open.
Although if he drops down in the rankings after losing to Opelka, de Minaur opens himself up to facing the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and even in-from star Shelton earlier in the tournament.
De Minaur has struggled against some of the world's best in recent times having never beaten Sinner in 10 attempts. The 26-year-old Aussie has also never defeated Alcaraz in his four attempts, while he has the single victory over Djokovic with a 3-1 losing record. The Aussie most recently went down to Djokovic in a four-set battle at Wimbledon to emphasise his struggles against the top few players in the world.
The Aussie won't play another singles match ahead of his US Open campaign, but could take part in the new US Open mixed doubles tournament. De Minaur and fiancee Katie Boulter are hoping to earn one of the final two wildcard places to take part in the 16 team tournament.
RELATED:
Jannik Sinner triumph could force Aussie coach to backflip on exit call
Flood of support after tennis rocked by news about Wimbledon finalist
Alex de Minaur struggles against Opelka
The World No.73 hadn't beaten de Minaur since 2019 having lost five-straight matches. However, the towering American blasted 14 aces and hit a whopping 38 winners in the two-set victory. Opelka felt his serve wasn't at its best, but his forehand caused too much trouble for the Aussie in the Ohio heat.
"I didn't serve as well as I'd have liked to, but everything else was working," Opelka said after the match. "I was pretty consistent from the baseline the whole match. My serve fluctuated and it was a bit of a surprise that the other things came through well for me today. I think I returned really well too."
While de Minaur couldn't advance, Alexei Popyrin celebrated his first tournament as a top 20 player having defeated rising Spanish teenager Martin Landaluce 7-6 6-3. De Minaur will be hoping Popyrin can do him a favour and knockout Rublev in the next round.
The Russian has the opportunity to take over de Minaur with a win in Cincinnati, which would be a blow for Australia's highest-ranked player. Aussie fans will be cheering on Popyrin for a number of reasons as he takes on the Russian. Meanwhile, Adam Walton caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far having defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-7 6-4 6-1.