Australian Open tennis: Alex de Minaur is last Australian to exit men’s singles after defeat by Fabio Fognini

Italian veteran Fabio Fognini has ended the Australian Open campaign of Alex de Minaur, and Australia’s hopes in the men’s singles.

Italy's Fabio Fognini after a point against Australia's Alex de Minaur during their men's singles match on day six of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Saturday. Picture: Paul Crock/AFP

The Australian Open campaign of Alex de Minaur is over after he was convincingly beaten by Italian veteran Fabio Fognini on Saturday night, but Fognini predicted the loser was still headed for the top of tennis.

The 21-year-old conceded power and experience to his rival, who has been ranked as high as nine, and found himself regularly on the defensive when beaten 6-4 6-3 6-4 in 2hr 8min.

There are no Australian men left in the event with the exit of de Minaur, who missed last year’s Open with a stomach muscle injury.

Ash Barty is the sole remaining local in singles action after her win over Ekaterina Alexandrova earlier on Saturday and will now play Shelby Rogers.

Fognini said that he benefited from playing without a crowd. He also said there was a lot to like in de Minaur, who started the season with a triumph in an ATP Tour event in Turkey.

“I was knowing since the beginning it was a really tough match. Tonight it was better for me without a crowd, of course. He is Australian, it was tough,” he said.

“He is really young. I am almost 34, so for sure he is a really good player, already top 20. He has everything to improve. He is a really good guy. For sure he is going to [be] on top.”

It is the fourth time Fognini, who reeled in a two-set deficit against Rafael Nadal at the US Open in 2015 in a famous upset, has reached the last 16 at the Australian Open.

The Italian underwent ankle surgery during the circuit shutdown in May last year.

He said he had bounced back to his best form faster than he anticipated.

“I play a really solid match. I get a bit tired at the end of the match, but I think it is normal. I need these kind of matches. I am really happy with this match tonight,” he said.

“I was not expecting to be playing like this. I won. I am feeling good. Tennis is back, so I am really happy.”

Alex de Minaur of Australia plays a forehand in his men's singles third-round match against Fabio Fognini of Italy. Picture: Getty Images

De Minaur entered the third-round clash against Fognini, who has won a title at Masters level, with confidence after consecutive straight sets wins.

But he found himself effectively engaged in a battle against a mirror-image of himself, though one packing more punch on his serve and groundstrokes.

Without a fervent local crowd cheering the Spain-based right-hander on, he was unable to harness his best form, though this was largely due to the quality of play from the Italian.

De Minaur, with understatement, said: “It’s not the result I wanted going in.’’

He said “Fabio played at a very high level throughout the whole match and he was too good for me.

“He was not giving a lot and I felt like we were going to try and expose his movement a little bit, but he was hitting some pretty good end-range shots.

“I couldn’t be too passive on the rallies because he was stepping in and dictating from the get-go,” he said.

“In a way it’s good to have these matches because I can now sit down and see what I need to improve on,” de Minaur said.

“It’s a constant journey of improvement and I’m not satisfied with where I am.

“I don’t want to come and make the third round of a slam and be content about it.

“I want to be pushing deep in slams and today wasn’t the day, but I’ll have more chances and I’ll definitely learn from this.”