- 25-year-old is ranked ninth in the world
- Has been ‘very frustrated’ by long layoff
Alex de Minaur has won his first match as he comes back from a serious injury that had sidelined him since he crashed out of the US Open six weeks ago.
A problem with his hip resurfaced at Flushing Meadow, with the world No.9 losing in straight sets in the quarter finals as he struggled to deal with a hip problem that flared up so badly he considered pulling out of the Grand Slam before it even started.
The 25-year-old outlasted Roberto Carballes Baena 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to book his spot in the last eight at the European Open in Antwerp on Wednesday night, Australian time.
The world No.10 was left out of Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt’s original squad for the Davis Cup finals with an eye to trying to get himself in the best possible shape for January’s Australian Open.
But having made a playing return, de Minaur could also push to qualify for the season-ending ATP finals in Italy that will follow the Davis Cup.
‘It’s never easy coming back from injury, so I am happy I was able to win today,’ said de Minaur, whose hip ailment forced him out of the succession of tournaments known as the Asian swing.
‘It took a lot of fight and effort, so I’m happy to get a first win here in Antwerp.
‘The match is never over until the last point, that’s what I always tell myself. I’m always going to compete until the very end and it’s helped me win a lot of matches, so I better keep doing it.’
At last week’s Australian Open launch, Hewitt said de Minaur’s fitness was a ‘work in progress’ and he needed to ‘weigh up the priorities’ as his body continues to rebuild from the injury.
‘I’m speaking to him every second day, and it’s certainly been a very frustrating time for him,’ Hewitt said.
‘He’s had some small niggles in the past that I guess he could better understand what he needed to do to get over it, to get back to 100 per cent as quickly as possible.
‘This one has been a different case, and mentally it’s been more frustrating.
‘As everyone saw, the effort that he put in in New York, for him on one leg, basically, to go out and make a quarter-final was pretty exceptional, and he’s still given himself a chance of being in the Turin (ATP) finals by doing that as well.
‘So he’s got to weigh up the priorities now as well.’
The Davis Cup finals begin on November 19.
