In an all-Australian quarterfinal in Atlanta Alex de Minaur has advanced after defeating Bernard Tomic 6-2, 3-0 as Tomic retired with a back injury.
“It’s not ideal obviously for him, but I’ll take this any day of the week. I got here to come, play some good tennis, and ended up with the win,” de Minaur said. “I hope Bernard gets better and recovers, and hopefully he’s all good for the next tournament.”
Alexei Popyrin lost to Great Britain’s Cam Norrie 7-5, 6-4.
Popyrin started well but seemed to be struggling in the heat and humidity in Atlanta with the temperature around 31C.
Both players held serve until at 5-5 Norrie gained a break point after a double-fault from Popyrin. A good body serve saved that point.
Popyrin then had game points but was not able to close it out. Eventually, Popyrin would hit long to see Norrie serving for the set at 6-5. The Brit had set point at 40-30 and converted as Popyrin sent a shot over the baseline.
The trainer then came to talk to the Australian as he was feeling the heat.
Popyrin was quickly down 0-1 and looked to be falling behind 0-2 before fighting back from 40-15 to break back.
Games were held until Popyrin was serving at 4-4. He again was broken and allowed Norrie to serve for the match at 5-4. The Brit won the game to advance to the semifinals in Atlanta for the second time in a row.
de Minaur will face giant American Riley Opelka in a re-match of their round two match at Sydney back in January. On that occasion de Minaur defeated Opelka 6-4, 7-6(5) but the American let a good lead slip in the tie-breaker.
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