Alex de Minaur beat a familiar opponent in the sunshine at Wimbledon to reach the last 32 before reiterating his desire to “go far” in the tournament.
The Australian No. 1 overcame some concerns in the third set against Spaniard Jaume Munar, a clay-court specialist he easily defeated at the French Open, before going one better to win 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 on Show Court No. 3 on Thursday.
Munar, who broke serve eight times against the No. 9 seed, was no match for de Minaur, but the Sydneysider was a little frustrated by his failure to do his job more convincingly in the third set, when he broke three times, including once while serving for the match.
But there was never any realistic doubt about the outcome, as de Minaur secured victory after just over two hours and now has the prospect of a third round against Thanasi Kokkinakis should he beat French qualifier Lucas Pouille later in the day.
De Minaur seemed in the mood to race to victory against a struggling opponent – Munar made nine in total – so quickly that he would finish before his girlfriend, British No. 1 Katie Boulter, started her all-British Election Day special against Harriet Dart.
“I might have made it to the start if I hadn’t suffered a break in the last set,” he told the audience afterwards.
“But I’m going to shower, cool off and do my best to get there and support Katie.
“This is the surface I’ve always enjoyed playing on. It’s special to play at Wimbledon and I hope I can go far in the tournament now.”
De Minaur looked confident from the start against the world number 63, whom he regularly played against as a junior when he lived in Spain, but he made an immediate break, took control and went two sets ahead without allowing even the chance of a break point.
He had a chance to seal the deal when Munar served at 3-5, but wasted three match points before the Spaniard broke him out of the blue for the first time. It was only a brief respite, however, before de Minaur broke again and then sealed his triumph with his eighth ace to add to his 23 winners.