De Minaur in a desperate race to be fit for the Open
Alex de Minaur’s Australian Open hopes are in serious jeopardy as he battles to recover from an abdominal injury.
Alex de Minaur’s Australian Open hopes are in serious jeopardy as the nation’s top-ranked male battles to recover from an abdominal injury.
The world No 21 is struggling to overcome a muscle tear after a frenetic start to the season in the ATP Cup, where he played five three-matches (four singles and a doubles) in nine days as Australia reached the semi-finals.
The slightly built baseliner downed world No 7 Alexander Zverev and No 15 Denis Shapovalov before losing to Dan Evans and reigning French and US Open champion Rafael Nadal in brutal encounters.
He also shared an epic doubles win with Nick Kyrgios over Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury, and the combined demands of those matches forced de Minaur out of the Adelaide International.
Since transferring to Melbourne, the right-hander has undergone constant therapy but the injury hasn’t improved sufficiently for him to be confident of playing at Melbourne Park.
Downcast in Adelaide, the Sydneysider is now contemplating the possibility of missing the Open, starting from Monday. However, he will continue to seek treatment in the hope of an unlikely recovery.
If de Minaur does miss the Open, Australian teammate Kyrgios will move up to 20th seed ahead of Thursday night’s draw.
Kyrgios headlines the Kooyong Classic’s “Super Thursday” line-up. The Canberran faces Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov at the former home of the Australian Open from 1pm.
The pair will be followed by Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and Italian Matteo Berrettini.
The program is completed by former world No 1 Maria Sharapova’s clash with Queensland’s Ajla Tomljanovic.
Meanwhile, former Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber might not be able to play at Melbourne Park next week after suffering a back injury at the Adelaide International.
The German retired on Wednesday from the WTA tournament when trailing Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska 3-6 0-2 in a second-round fixture.
Kerber — who triumphed at the Open in Melbourne in 2016, the same year she finished as world No 1 — sought on-court medical treatment for a lower-back injury before retiring.
The 31-year-old made the fourth round last year at the Australian Open but then struggled, losing first-round matches at the French and US opens. Kerber also lost in the first round against Australian Sam Stosur at last week’s Brisbane International.
The diagnosis on Kerber is not immediately known, but the world No 18 faces a race to be fit for the Australian Open.
Her opponent Yastremska advances to the quarter-finals of the inaugural Adelaide tournament, joined by Donna Vekic. The Croatian has downed Maria Sakkari of Greece, 2-6 7-5 6-1.
On Monday, organisers confirmed that Bianca Andreescu, Juan Martin del Potro and Richard Gasquet have all withdrawn from the Australian Open due to knee injuries.
Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the tournament in December citing personal reasons.
Herald Sun, Agencies
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