De Minaur outclassed in US Open 2022 third round | 3 September, 2022 | All News | News and Features | News and Events

Alex de Minaur has enjoyed a career-best season at Grand Slam level, advancing to the fourth round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon for the first time.

But the 23-year-old Australian’s quest to also reach that stage at the US Open has fallen just short, losing in the third round to in-form Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.

Carreno Busta is a two-time US Open semifinalist and won his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Montreal last month, scoring three top-20 wins in an impressive run.

The world No.15’s growing confidence proved impenetrable, recording a 6-1 6-1 3-6 7-6(5) victory against De Minaur at Flushing Meadows today.

Carreno Busta’s relentless pressure and consistency had De Minaur on the back foot early in the three-hour encounter. He raced through the opening two sets, restricting the No.18-seeded Australian to just two games.

World No.20 De Minaur desperately tried to find a way into the match, stepping up his intensity to storm back and secure the third set.

In a tight fourth set, De Minaur then saved a match point on his serve in the 12th game to force a tiebreak.

De Minaur was attempting to recover from a two-sets-to-love deficit for the first time in his Grand Slam career – and with his building momentum, it started to look possible.

But Carreno Busta withstood the tenacious challenge from the Australian, calmly closing out victory in a tense fourth-set tiebreak.

The 31-year-old Spaniard produced his best under pressure, claiming his second match point with a tweener lob that forced an error from his opponent.