Australian Open: De Minaur brushes aside Van de Zandschulp to reach second round

Leading home hope Alex De Minaur, the No 8 seed, advanced to the second round of the Australian Open with a straightforward victory over Botic van de Zandschulp, beating the Dutchman 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 at Melbourne Park.

The Aussie looked comfortable throughout an impressive display, especially in the first set which raced by in a dominant showing from De Minaur which yielded two breaks without reply.

The only minor blip for the world No 8 was a break back by the Dutchman in the middle stanza, after De Minaur had again moved a break up. But a fourth break in the eleventh game set up the chance to serve for a two-set lead which De Minaur duly took.

The third set only needed a single break for the Australian to take it and, with it, safe passage into his home Grnad Slam’s second round.

“Thank you everyone – 2024 was a special year and it ended in the best possible way,” De Minaur said.

“I’m very happy that it happened [getting engaged to Katie Boulter] but, saying that, she is playing right now so I better get out there and watch her!”

De Minaur, ranked No 8, will face American qualifier Tristan Boyer next.

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 60.627.573, most recent results first):

• Andrey Rublev vs. Joao Fonseca: tuesday
• Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Kamil Majchrzak: tuesday
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Corentin Moutet: tuesday
• Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Denis Shapovalov: tuesday
• Marcos Giron vs. Yannick Hanfmann: tuesday
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Flavio Cobolli (32): 6-7 (8), 6-3, 7-5, 6-1
• Mitchell Krueger (Q) beat Rinky Hijikata: 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
• Tristan Boyer beat Federico Coria: 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Stan Wawrinka (WC): 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5
• Ben Shelton (21) beat Brandon Nakashima: 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5
• Lorenzo Musetti (16) beat Matteo Arnaldi: 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Daniel Altmaier beat Francisco Comesana: 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4
• Daniil Medvedev (5) beat Kasidit Samrej (WC): 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
• Facundo Diaz Acosta beat Zizou Bergs: 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Hubert Hurkacz (18) beat Tallon Griekspoor: 7-5, 6-4, 6-4
• Gael Monfils beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (30): 7-6 (7), 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-4
• Francisco Cerundolo (31) beat Alexander Bublik: 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-2
• Cristian Garin (Q) beat Borna Coric: 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
• Learner Tien (Q) beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli: 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
• Taylor Fritz (4) beat Jenson Brooksby: 6-2, 6-0, 6-3
• Holger Rune (13) beat Zhizhen Zhang: 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
• Karen Khachanov (19) beat Adrian Mannarino: 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-3
• Gabriel Diallo beat Luca Nardi: 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
• Matteo Berrettini beat Cameron Norrie: 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3
• Miomir Kecmanovic beat Dusan Lajovic: 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
• Tommy Paul (12) beat Christopher O’Connell: 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 7-5
• Francesco Passaro (LL) beat Grigor Dimitrov (10): 7-5, 2-1 ret.
• Benjamin Bonzi beat David Goffin: 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7)
• Jacob Fearnley beat Nick Kyrgios: 7-6 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (2)
• Novak Djokovic (7) beat Nishesh Basavareddy (WC): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
• Carlos Alcaraz (3) beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-1, 7-5, 6-1
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Juncheng Shang: 7-6 (1), 5-2 ret.
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (29) beat Jan-Lennard Struff: 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
• Jaime Faria (Q) beat Pavel Kotov: 6-1, 6-1, 7-5
• Sebastian Korda (22) beat Lukas Klein (Q): 6-3, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
• Yoshihito Nishioka beat Aziz Dougaz (Q): 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3
• Arthur Cazaux beat Sebastian Baez (28): 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3
• Thanasi Kokkinakis beat Roman Safiullin: 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
• Jack Draper (15) beat Mariano Navone: 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Aleksandar Vukic beat Damir Dzumhur: 6-7 (3), 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Tristan Schoolkate (WC) beat Taro Daniel: 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-4
• Jordan Thompson (27) beat Dominik Koepfer (Q): 7-6 (3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (1) beat Nicolas Jarry: 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-1
• James McCabe (WC) beat Martin Landaluce (Q): 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
• James Duckworth beat Dominic Stricker: 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
• Fabian Marozsan beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
• Nuno Borges beat Alexandre Muller: 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2, 7-5
• Roberto Carballes Baena beat Alejandro Tabilo (23): 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (1)
• Jakub Mensik beat Nikoloz Basilashvili (Q): 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3
• Frances Tiafoe (17) beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-6 (2), 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3
• Alex Michelsen beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (11): 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (2) beat Lucas Pouille (WC): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Quentin Halys beat Adam Walton: 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 7-5
• Reilly Opelka beat Gauthier Onclin (Q): 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2
• Ugo Humbert (14) beat Matteo Gigante (Q): 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-4
• Pedro Martinez Portero beat Luciano Darderi: 6-3, 4-1 ret.
• Tomas Machac (26) beat Sumit Nagal: 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
• Jiri Lehecka (24) beat Li Tu (WC): 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1)
• Hady Habib (Q) beat Yunchaokete Bu: 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6)
• Casper Ruud (6) beat Jaume Munar: 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1
• Kei Nishikori beat Thiago Monteiro (Q): 4-6, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
• Arthur Fils (20) beat Otto Virtanen: 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4
• Hugo Gaston beat Omar Jasika (WC): 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2