Alex de Minaur has booked his spot in the third round of the Australian Open with a ruthless victory over Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
The Aussie needed just on two hours to wrap up the 6-3 6-0 6-3 demolition of the world No.41.
In a reflection of the world No.10’s heady new levels, de Minaur’s clinical victory over Arnaldi was his most one-sided yet in 21 Open matches since debuting in 2016.
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The heavy defeat was also in stark contrast to his flat first-round win over Milos Raonic, when de Minaur advanced after the big-serving Canadian retired at one-set apiece with a hip flexor injury.
He will now play world No.65 Pavel Kotov or Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli in the third round, with fifth seed Andrey Rublev looming large in last 16.
De Minaur broke his opponent in the third game and again in the ninth game to seal a tight first set.
While the first set was closely fought, the second was polar opposite as Arnaldi’s unforced errors piled up and he failed to win a game.
The world No.10 quickly broke again early in the third set to move ahead 3-0 before the Italian staged a fightback to level the set at 3-3.
But the Aussie quickly regrouped to break again and then serve out the match.
“I’m very happy. Matteo is a hell of a player, very exciting player with a lot of firepower,” he said after the match.
“I thought I just had to be solid here, use the crowd, try to stay focused. I’m very happy to get the win today. So thank you guys.”
– With AAP
More to come …