By Rory Carroll
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Alex de Minaur reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time after he produced an inspired performance to upset seventh seed Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-4 2-6 6-3 in the U.S. Open third round on Friday.
The 20-year-old Australian was in control from the outset, going up a double break in the first set and leapt in the air and pumped his fist when the Japanese sent a forehand into the net on match point.
De Minaur, nicknamed “the demon”, was delighted to notch up his first win over a top 10 player.
“The crowd support was amazing,” said De Minaur, who won last month’s Atlanta Open for his second ATP title.
“I had a bit of a thrill last year against (Marin) Cilic,” he said, referring to his heartbreaking five-set loss to the Croatian in New York.
“Was two-sets-to-love up again and I’m glad I could finally get the win.”
Nishikori was far from his best, committing 60 unforced errors and seven double faults on the sunsoaked Grand Stand court.
Next up for De Minaur is either Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov or Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
