World News De Minaur overcomes dogged Duckworth and Wimbledon rain Blog

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Alex de Minaur was undeterred by rain showers or a determined compatriot and began his assault on the grass citadel of Wimbledon with a victory in straight sets.

James Duckworth put up a stubborn resistance, but despite forcing three tiebreaks, Australia’s No. 8 failed to take a set from the national No. 1.

Under the watchful eye of Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, de Minaur won 7:6 (7:1), 7:6 (7:3), 7:6 (7:4).

A few meters away, on the numerous outdoor courts, another Australian also moved into the second round. Alexei Popyrin defeated Thiago Monteiro in just over two and a half hours in four sets.

Although the dogged Duckworth made de Minaur work hard, his resistance was certainly frustrating. Combined with the bad weather, the ninth seed was kept busy for most of the day.

The game started at 11am local time (8pm Tuesday AEST) and didn’t end until around 4.30pm, although it lasted barely three hours.

A rain shower started shortly after de Minaur had won the first set, the second when the score was 2-0 for de Minaur in the tiebreak of the third set.

When they returned about an hour later, de Minaur sealed the win within five minutes after Duckworth had scored the third match point too wide.

Duckworth had his chances. He managed a break in all three sets and served at 5-4 for the second set and at 5-3 for the third. But both times de Minaur showed his class and was able to break back.

De Minaur will now play Spaniard Jaume Munar (ranked 63), who defeated British wildcard Billy Harris in four sets. De Minaur has won all three previous encounters, including in straight sets at Roland Garros this year.

Shortly before the second rain break, Popyrin had already secured his victory: He defeated the Brazilian Monteiro 6:4, 6:7 (8:10), 6:3 and 6:4.

The 30-year-old Brazilian had won in the main draw only once in his five previous visits to Wimbledon, while Popyrin had won only once in four visits, in 2019.

Now he faces another South American, Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who defeated Italian Luca Nardi.

The 24-year-old is seeded 30th and ranked 16 places higher than Popyrin, so he will pose a much tougher challenge.

Neither player has previously reached the third round of SW19, nor have they played against each other.

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