Australia’s Alex de Minaur kicks off year with Turkish title en route to Australian Open redemption

Australia’s Alex de Minaur hasn’t wasted time kickstarting 2021 in a positive fashion as he ramps up his preparation for the Australian Open.

Denis Kudla’s positive COVID test returned in the middle of his match. Picture: AAP

Australia’s Alex de Minaur has claimed the first ATP title of the year after his Kazakhstan opponent Alexander Bublik was forced to retire early in the final of the Antalya Open in Turkey.

The win was the 21-year-old’s fourth ATP title and took all of seven minutes after Bublik retired because of an ankle injury, with de Minaur leading 2-0 at the time.

The Australian dropped just one set for the week in an ideal build-up to next month’s rescheduled Australian Open.

What a great start to the season @alexdeminaur, congratulations on the win at the #AntalyaOpen, we look forward to seeing you in Melbourne very soon! https://t.co/mpGjCEwafX

— Craig Tiley (@CraigTiley) January 13, 2021

Ranked 23 in the world, de Minaur will be hoping for better luck at his home slam after missing out last year when an abdominal strain forced him out.

Now the youngest player in the world’s top 25, de Minaur enjoyed much success late last year, reaching the US Open quarter-finals and then the final in Antwerp.

Results which saw him leap past Nick Kyrgios to take the mantle as Australia’s season-ending No. 1 for the second consecutive year.

With his form in Turkey and subsequent win, the Aussie baseliner will be charged for an all-out assault in Melbourne.

Alex de Minaur has claimed his fourth ATP singles title with a win at the Antalya Open. Picture: Instagram

TOMIC SCRAPES THROUGH TO KEEP OPEN HOPES ALIVE

Australia is guaranteed to swell its Australian Open presence, with Bernard Tomic set to face a second-straight countryman in qualifying for the right to score a main draw berth.

Tomic rallied past 19-year-old West Australian Tristan Schoolkate 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10-3) overnight – saving a match point when the teenager double-faulted – to reach final-round qualifying in Doha.

The world No. 228 will now take on Queensland left-hander John-Patrick Smith, who came from a set down to oust Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Bernard Tomic has scraped through in the qualifiers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The all-local clash means Australia will have an Open qualifier for the third year in a row and fourth time in five years.

Max Purcell qualified last year, while Thanasi Kokkinakis and Astra Sharma did the same in 2019 and Blake Mott and Alex Bolt advanced in 2017.

Tomic is trying to resuscitate a once high-flying career that saw him ranked inside the world’s top 20 four years ago, but that has since been better known for controversy and lowlights.

The 28-year-old lost in final-round qualifying two years ago to Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, who has gone on to establish himself on the ATP Tour and will be seeded at the 2021 Australian Open.

“I thought I was done,” Tomic said post-match of being down match point.

“The third (set) was high-level tennis from both of us. I should have lost that third set. Today was lucky.”

Joining them in final-round qualifying is Queensland teenager Dane Sweeny, who received a free pass when American Denis Kudla tested positive for COVID-19 and withdrew from the tournament.

The six other Australian qualifying hopes bowed out of contention.

Jason Kubler blew a 5-1 first-set lead in losing to veteran Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-6(4), 6-4, while Rinky Hijikata, Purcell, Olivia Gadecki, Andrew Harris and Ellen Perez also exited.

Perez was the only one of those to stretch her opponent to three sets before going down 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to American former world No. 19 Varvara Lepchenko.

Hijikata lost 6-4, 6-2 to 11th seed Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Purcell was no match for third seed Aslan Karatsev in a 6-1, 6-2 defeat, and Harris was on the wrong end of a 6-4, 7-6(6) result against second seed Hugo Dellen.

Gadecki went down 6-2, 6-4 to American Whitney Osuigwe in the women’s draw in Dubai.

Aus Open quali rocked by COVID positive player

The Australian Open’s qualifying tournament has been rocked by its first positive COVID-19 tests.

American Denis Kudla and Argentine Francisco Cerundolo were subsequently withdrawn from the Doha-based event despite winning their first-round qualifying matches, as per the rules.

They have since been transferred to a quarantine hotel.

Tennis Australia confirmed in a statement that two men’s players returned positive COVID tests in Doha.

Denis Kudla’s positive COVID test returned in the middle of his match. Picture: AAP

“Local health authorities, the tournament physician and medical team are monitoring each individual. Contact tracing is currently underway to notify close contacts,” the statement read.

News of Kudla’s positive test reportedly arrived while he was leading Moroccan Elliot Benchetrit by a set and 5-3.

Kudla went on to claim the next game and the match, with 221st-ranked Benchetrit later revealing he would’ve moved into the second round if he had won that game to keep the contest alive.

“The rule was to finish the game in progress before the match was stopped and it was during the last game of the match, so he was declared the winner,” Benchetrit told Tennis Majors.

At the time of Benchetrit speaking he was yet to find out if he would be identified as a close contact of Kudla and need to quarantine for 10 days.

This is weird

Elliot Benchetrit, who lost to Denis Kudla 6-4 6-3 in the AO qualifying R1, says that news that Kudla tested positive to COVID broke out at 5-3 in the second set...

...and Benchetrit was told later that if he had won the game for 5-4, he would have been through? pic.twitter.com/Dw4vRlPdTt

— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) January 11, 2021

The 22-year-old was critical of the testing process, saying all results should be known prior to players stepping on the court.

All qualifying competitors had to return a negative test before being able to practice and the Herald Sun previously reported extensive delays in those results being returned.

Subsequent tests have also experienced longer-than-expected delays, according to German player Dustin Brown.

“The concept of a test is to have the information beforehand so as not to endanger the linesman, the opponent, or simply every person the player may meet before or after his match,” Benchetrit said.

“There are also lucky losers who are waiting for a forfeit to be able to play, who made the trip for nothing.

“There is going to be a player in the third round of the qualifications having played only one match – that’s also the problem.”

Benchetrit believes Kudla and Cerundolo must have contracted the coronavirus in Doha, given this would have been their third test since arriving in the country.

“We use the service lifts for the staff, so as not to cross the clients,” he said.

“And quite a few players suspect the hotel staff, who are not tested as regularly as we are, of being the cause of the contamination of some players. That’s why more and more players are testing positive.”

The turn of events is good news for 19-year-old Queenslander Dane Sweeny, who was supposed to face world No. 114 Kudla in his second match, but instead scores a walkover straight into final-round qualifying.

Spain’s Mario Vilella Martinez is also automatically into final-round qualifying, thanks to a walkover against Cerundolo.

Sweeny was one of seven Australian winners on day two, including Bernard Tomic, Max Purcell, Olivia Gadecki, John-Patrick Smith, Andrew Harris and Tristan Schoolkate.

Tomic and Schoolkate will clash in the second round and the winner could play Smith, who next meets Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, for a main draw berth.

Originally published as Australia’s Alex de Minaur kicks off year with Turkish title en route to Australian Open redemption