Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin and Chris O’Connell are relishing their opportunities at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami.
Miami, USA, 25 March 2024 | Rhys de Deugd
Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin have both enjoyed second-round victories at the Miami Open, and will eye off a place in the fourth round, to join fellow New South Welshman Chris O’Connell.
Alex de Minaur moved into the third round with a resounding win over former world No.52 Kwon Soon-woo 6-3 6-2.
De Minaur had full control of the contest, hitting 20 winners in the victory that took him one hour and 17 minutes.
The result comes as a great turnaround from last time the pair met in 2022, where the Korean strongly prevailed in Tokyo.
The top-ranked Aussie improves to a record of 18 wins and six losses for the season, and will next play 24th seed Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round.
A big result also for Alexei Popyrin who takes down 26th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4 6-4 in a promising performance.
It was a case of winning the points that mattered most for the world No.45, who managed to break Lehecka’s serve late in each of their sets.
This is Popyrin’s third top-30 for the win for the season and a promising return after an abdominal injury forced him to withdraw from Dubai and Indian Wells.
The Aussie will next face in-form Hungarian Fabian Marozsan for the first time in his career.
> VIEW: Miami Open men’s singles draw
Ahead of the pack and already moving into the fourth round, is fellow Sydneysider Chris O’Connell.
The world No.66 fought through a tight two-set battle against local wildcard Martin Damm Jr 7-6(5) 7-6(5).
O’Connell was impressive in his ability to hold serve, as he saved nine break points for the match, to close out each set in a tiebreak.
Improving on a career-best ATP Masters 1000 result in Miami, O’Connell will face reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in the fourth round.
Aussies in action – Miami
RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
[9] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Kwon Soon-woo (KOR) 6-3 6-2
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) d [26] Jiri Lehecka (CZE) 6-4 6-4
Men’s singles, third round
Chris O’Connell (AUS) d Martin Damm Jr. (USA) 7-6(5) 7-6(5)
Women’s doubles, first round
[4] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) d Veronika Kudermetova/Anastasia Potapova 6-2 6-2
Wang Xinyu (CHN)/Zheng Saisai (CHN) d [Alt] Daria Saville (AUS)/Magdalena Frech (POL) 5-7 7-5 [10-8]
Men’s doubles, first round
[1] Matt Ebden…
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