By Marc McGowan
Alex de Minaur will use tennis’ answer to Twenty20 cricket as a last-minute platform next week to be ready for this month’s US Open, where he hopes to reach a third straight grand slam quarter-final.
Nick Kyrgios will join de Minaur at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown event in New York on Thursday and Friday (US time) in what will be his first competitive hitout since June last year.
Alex de Minaur will try to make a third consecutive grand slam quarter-final at the US Open.Credit: Getty Images
No Australian man has made three major quarter-finals in a row since Lleyton Hewitt achieved the feat at four straight grand slams between 2004 and 2005, including advancing to the US Open and Australian Open finals.
De Minaur, who confirmed he will contest the US Open from August 26, has not played singles since a cartilage tear high on his right hip caused him to withdraw ahead of a blockbuster last-eight showdown with Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last month.
His ranking has suffered in his absence, falling four spots from a career-high No.6 – but Stefanos Tsitsipas’ and Taylor Fritz’s early defeats in Cincinnati mean he is likely to retain his top-10 status for at least another week.
American Ben Shelton is the only player who can still overtake de Minaur, but he needs a deep run at Cincinnati to do so.
“Been working hard trying to recover from my injury,” de Minaur posted on Instagram.
“It’s been very tough missing tournaments and [I am] excited to say I’ll be playing US Open. Thanks [for] all the support I’ve gotten; it’s definitely helped me through these tough times. There’s always light [at] the end of the tunnel.”
Countryman Jordan Thompson’s bid to join de Minaur and Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin as seeds at the US Open – a feat that would be a 24-year first for Australia – will continue on Friday night (AEST) in Cincinnati when he faces world No.1 Jannik Sinner in the last 16.
Thompson has already upset 17th-ranked Frenchman Ugo Humbert and Argentine world No.20 Sebastien Baez this week, including dealing with a heckler during the 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Humbert on Tuesday.
Another fan also in attendance alleged the heckler – who had heated exchanges with Thompson and was spoken to by the chair umpire and security – was a gambler who had placed a bet on Humbert.
The heckler also allegedly said: “I want to see Nick Kyrgios, not Jordan Thompson.”
Thompson sits No.33 in the live rankings, so he will need to beat Sinner or rely on a higher-ranked player withdrawing from the US Open to be one of the 32 seeds in the men’s draw.
De Minaur planned to compete in singles at the Paris Olympics, but withdrew and instead partnered Popyrin in the doubles before skipping the Masters 1000 tournaments at Montreal and Cincinnati.
Nick Kyrgios and Coco Gauff are among the tennis stars involved in the “Mixed Madness” charity event at the US Open.Credit: Getty Images
He also won’t play at next week’s Winston-Salem Open, preferring to finalise his US Open preparations at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) league in New York.
Kyrgios has not played competitively anywhere since Stuttgart in June last year after scans confirmed he had suffered a torn ligament in his right wrist.
He is also committed to playing in the US Open’s “Mixed Madness” charity event next Wednesday (AEST), alongside Naomi Osaka, against fellow glamour pairings such as Aryna Sabalenka and Fritz, Coco Gauff and Shelton, and real-life couple Paula Badosa and Tsitsipas.
It is still unclear when Kyrgios intends to return to the professional tour, but he practised regularly with Djokovic at Wimbledon.
“He’s hitting the ball as good as ever, really,” Djokovic said to a question from this masthead during the London major. “He’s so talented. He’s so good with his tennis. I think he said that the wrist bothers him mostly with the serve, but he’s been increasing the load and the intensity and the speed … he’s very positive.”
The UTS, co-founded by Popyrin’s businessman father Alex and high-profile coach Patrick Mouratoglou, uses a drastically different format to traditional tennis.
Matches are made up of four eight-minute quarters and there are UTS “cards” that players can use a certain number of times per quarter to increase the value of an individual point. There is also live coaching and mid-match interviews, while fans are encouraged to be raucous.
It is promoted as a new and brash version of the sport, and designed to appeal to a younger audience, with the hope they will be converted as fans to tennis’ longer form.
Meanwhile, emerging Australians Taylah Preston and Tristan Schoolkate received Tennis Australia’s reciprocal main draw wildcards for the US Open, a favour that is returned for Americans at the Australian Open.
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