The weather turned briefly at Melbourne Park on Wednesday morning, but the forecast for Alex de Minaur’s Australian Open continues to improve after he comprehensively dispatched Italian Matteo Arnaldi in the second round 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.
Under the roof at Rod Laver Arena in a contest lasting just two hours, Australia’s top-ranked men’s player booked a third-round tie against either 65th-ranked Pavel Kotov or Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli.
The fans had rammed Rod Laver Arena for the chance for the full De Minaur experience, after his first round match against Canadian Milos Raonic ended in retirement barely two sets in.
And the spinning ball of racquet and rubber delivered as advertised: scurrying, sliding and slinging past his opponent, the Peter Parker of tennis going through the gears in the first week of his home grand slam.
“I thought I just had to be solid here, use the crowd,” De Minaur said on court after the match.
“Matteo’s a hell of a player, a very exciting player, has got a lot of firepower and has a very, very high level.”
Initially, De Minaur’s victory seemed far from automatic. The 22-year-old Italian is at a career high rank of 41, and he helped his country beat Australia in last year’s Davis Cup final by besting Alexei Popyrin in the first singles rubber.
“It’s no secret, it was heartbreaking at the end of the year, losing to Italy in the Davis Cup final,” De Minaur said.
“But I told the boys we were going to be back there, so we’re going to get another chance, and today was a little bit of revenge for Australia.”
Arnaldi’s familiarity with Australia extends off the court. His girlfriend hails from Melbourne and the Italian enjoyed time in the city over the summer.
Whether it was local knowledge or not, Arnaldi seemed to be a match for world No 10 early. He had a break point chance in the first game, and the Italian’s powerful forehand was giving even the famed Demon defence trouble.
In a first set of fine margins, the Australian saved his two break points, but broke his opponent twice to secure it 6-3.
Trouble was brewing for the Italian. Arnaldi’s first serve was landing less than half of the time, and the Australian was benefiting from the practice.
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In the second set, practice made almost perfect, with De Minaur winning 85% of points on the Italian’s second serve on his way to a 6-0 roasting.
And it continued in the third, when the home favourite sped out to a 3-0 lead. Just when the fans started looking ahead to a big day for Australians, the Italian showed life with a break back.
But De Minaur once again had the answer. A smash ended a 20-point rally to bring up break point, which took him to 5-3 and, minutes later, to victory.
De Minaur is now focused on his next round against either Kotov or Cobolli, who also play on Wednesday afternoon.
“Hopefully they play for five hours today,” De Minaur said. “Again, I’ve got to focus on my side of the court, put my head down and, you know, hopefully do my thing.”
De Minaur was the first Australian in action on Wednesday.
Popyrin plays Novak Djokovic and Jordan Thompson meets seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a highly anticipated evening session. Chris O’Connell plays 16th seed Ben Shelton later in the afternoon.
