- Alex de Minaur has advanced to the Australian Open second round
- The 24-year-old had to battle hard against Milos Raonic
- Raonic was forced to retire during the third set
Alex de Minaur has been gifted passage into the second round of the Australian Open after his veteran opponent Milos Raonic withdrew mid-match with injury.
The 33-year-old Canadian won the first set but called time in their Monday night match at Rod Laver Arena while trailing 6-7 (8-6) 6-3 2-0.
He left the court for medical treatment on a hip flexor issue while leading 5-4 in the first set but the injury continued to trouble him.
A former world No.3, Raonic had a horrible run of injuries and illness between 2021 and 2023 missing nine grand slams with Achilles, back, glutes, ankle, calf, knee and broken toe issues plus COVID- 19.
He made his major comeback at Wimbledon last year looking to match his previous best grand slam result, reaching the final there in 2016.
Milos Raonic was forced to retire from the Australian Open on Monday
Alex de Minaur advanced to the second round following a tough battle in Melbourne
The big-hitting Canadian was unable to continue after three gruelling sets
De Minaur battled early on with Raonic’s powerhouse serve, which sent down 12 aces before the hip injury began to dull the delivery and the home hope started to get on top.
De Minaur, who reached the top 10 last week, felt for his opponent.
‘I hope he has a speedy recovery – it’s not great to see him like this,’ the top-ranked Australian said.
‘He deserves to be healthy and playing incredible tennis that he has done for so many years so hopefully he is back in no time.
‘As you saw I was chasing his serve for the better part of that match – guessing every now and again.
‘I just focused on myself in the second set, had to restart and managed to jag a break out of the blue and change the momentum.’
