- De Minaur advanced to the fourth round after a walk-over victory
- Lucas Pouille out of competition due to abdominal injury
- It’s the second time the Aussie has reached the second week
Alex de Minaur has declared himself a happy man after his comfortable seat ride into the second week of Wimbledon.
The Australian No. 1 effortlessly reached the second week of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament for the second time, having needed just two consecutive wins and a walkover to reach the tournament.
‘Demon’, who has never been awarded the bonus of a walkover victory in his 74-match Grand Slam singles career after Lucas Pouille withdrew through injury, believes this is the most stress-free transition he has ever had to the top of a major tournament.
While many rivals, including his fourth-round opponent Arthur Fils, suffered frustrating delays on another rainy day, De Minaur was able to afford the luxury of a relaxing Saturday after his third-round opponent Pouille withdrew with a stomach muscle injury.
De Minaur ultimately praised the “class act” of the former French No. 1, who informed him of his withdrawal an hour and 45 minutes before they were due to take the court on Saturday morning.
“Yes, definitely luck. Probably it’s most noticeable when you have days, like today and even tomorrow, when the weather is just not right,” said de Minaur, who has reached the fourth round of a fourth consecutive grand slam and is now favourite to reach his first quarter-final at SW19.
‘So I can count myself lucky that this happened. I can now relax and look forward to the next match, which I can prepare for.
“I went from a day where I probably had to wait a really long time for the job to a day where I could move on pretty quickly and prepare for the next job.”
Alex de Minaur (pictured) received a walkover in his third round match at Wimbledon
The Aussie advances to the fourth round at the All England Club for the second time
De Minaur said he found out around 9:15 a.m., when he was doing his physical warm-up before taking to the field. Pouille, 30, had approached him himself to let him know he was not fit enough to play.
“I think it was a great thing for him to let me know early in the day, especially because the weather forecast said it could last a long time,” De Minaur said.
“I wish him a speedy recovery. And I’m probably a little relieved myself. Just because everyone knew what day was coming, that it was going to be a long day, and I was able to be done pretty quickly.”
De Minaur now faces Fils, the exciting 20-year-old Frenchman ranked 34th in the world. He had to battle Russian Roman Safiullin, ranked 44th, for three and a half hours. The match was interrupted by rain and he eventually won 4-6 6-3 1-6 6-4 6-3.
De Minaur’s opponent in the fourth round of the tournament is world number 34 Arthur Fils
Reaching the fourth round has now become commonplace for de Minaur. In a sign that the Australian is starting to feel like an elite player, he has now reached the second week of seven of the last 11 Grand Slams, having achieved the feat just twice in his first 17.
He has looked very comfortable so far, with De Minaur enjoying two three-set victories against compatriot James Duckworth and Spaniard Jaume Maunar in his first two matches.
“Making it to the second week is a good start and I look forward to hopefully going even further,” said de Minaur.
“It’s always great to make it to the second week. The first week is about doing everything you can to stay alive, right? And once you make it through that first week, it feels like a whole new tournament to me, the second week.”
“As I’ve been saying for a long time, this is where I want to be.”
