ANALYSIS: De Minaur's battling qualities show he belongs on world stage
Overcome by the sheer firepower of second seed Dominic Thiem, Alex de Minaur's US Open run has ended at the quarter-final stage, but the 21-year-old Australian has spent the last week proving that he belongs on such a stage.
This time around, Thiem was too ruthless and far too strong, showing de Minaur where he sits in the pecking order. Dominic Thiem was happy to reach his first US Open semi-final, but he was also glad to save energy by beating de Minaur in three sets.Cynics might claim de Minaur has benefitted from a soft draw this week, but is it 'soft' to enter a strife-torn country in the middle of a pandemic?
What he meant, I think, is that de Minaur defies certain physical expectations of the elite male tennis star: in the upper echelons of the sport, he is a snake-hipped matador among bulls. Some would say this all makes him the heir apparent to Lleyton Hewitt's title of Australia's toughest cookie. In personality, however, de Minaur is different to Hewitt in more ways than he is similar: the intensity and doggedness are there, but not the outright belligerence.
Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur are very different people, but the pair of friends make a good team for Australia.
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