De Minaur Speeds Past Broady To Round Four At Wimbledon

Serving out for Grand Slam victories is never easy, but Alex de Minaur held firm on Saturday to see off Liam Broady and reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.

The Australian produced a high-class performance to seal 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win against the British wild card. Some late resistance from Broady saw De Minaur forced to fend off four break points when serving at 6-5 in the third set, but the Australian dug deep to convert his third match point for a two-hour, 24-minute victory.

“I’m just relieved,” said De Minaur in his on-court interview. “It was definitely harder at the end there than I wanted it to be, but at the end of the day this is tennis and anything can happen. Nerves playing in front of an amazing crowd, [on] an amazing court against a Brit, so it’s never easy. More than anything [I'm] just relieved to be in the second week of Wimbledon.”

De Minaur was making his second appearance in the third round at SW19, having fallen to Rafael Nadal at the same stage in 2018. In contrast to that occasion, the Australian entered the contest as the pre-match favourite and the 23-year-old showed why with a classy performance against the spirited Broady.

“It’s incredibly special,” said De Minaur. “Wimbledon in itself is such a special tournament, so to be able to come and play here, it’s a true honour. I’m just enjoying every second I can on the grass and trying to ride this wave.”

Prior to Saturday, no Australian man had reached the fourth round at Wimbledon since 2016, but De Minaur became the second to achieve that feat in the space of 15 minutes after his countryman Jason Kubler earlier completed a 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 win against Jack Sock. Nick Kyrgios could make it three Australians in the last 16, if he can take out fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas later on Saturday.

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After a cagey start, De Minaur took charge with a break to love in the sixth game on No. 1 Court. That proved enough to clinch an opening set in which the Australian dropped just three points behind serve and was frequently the dominant player from the baseline.

Broady struggled to change that pattern as the match wore on, and De Minaur also claimed the solitary break of the second set in the fifth game. The World No. 27 showed his class at the net throughout, winning 70 per cent (23/33) of points when coming forward and, despite dropping his serve for the first time at 5-4 and pressure from Broady at 6-5 in the third, De Minaur’s clean hitting proved too much for the World No. 132.

De Minaur can match his best Grand Slam result, a quarter-final run at the 2020 US Open, with a fourth-round victory against Cristian Garin. The Chilean earlier defeated 29th seed Jenson Brooksby 6-2, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon for the second time. De Minaur and Garin met only 12 days ago on the grass at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne, where the Australian ran out a 6-3, 6-3 winner.