1 hr. ago
Alex de Minaur blew through the opening set but needed some good luck in the second to emerge with a 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) opening win over James Duckworth on Tuesday at the ATP Montreal Masters.
De Minaur, seeded third, hasn't lost to a fellow Aussie in four years, but he was made to work hard by his 86th-ranked compatriot to keep that streak alive.
The second-round match turned in an instant in the second-set tiebreaker when a return which rolled off the top of the net handed de Minaur a match point after he saved six set points for his opponent.
"A little bit of luck went my way in the tiebreaker," de Minaur said. "He was hitting me off the court in the second set, but I got lucky and managed to sneak away with the tiebreaker.
"Ultimately it was a lot of fighting and competing," added de Minaur, the 2023 runner-up in Canada who married British WTA player Katie Boulter last month.
#tiebreaker #duckworth
De Minaur, seeded third, hasn't lost to a fellow Aussie in four years, but he was made to work hard by his 86th-ranked compatriot to keep that streak alive.
The second-round match turned in an instant in the second-set tiebreaker when a return which rolled off the top of the net handed de Minaur a match point after he saved six set points for his opponent.
"A little bit of luck went my way in the tiebreaker," de Minaur said. "He was hitting me off the court in the second set, but I got lucky and managed to sneak away with the tiebreaker.
"Ultimately it was a lot of fighting and competing," added de Minaur, the 2023 runner-up in Canada who married British WTA player Katie Boulter last month.
#tiebreaker #duckworth
