De Minaur outmuscles Navone to progress in Beijing
Alex de Minaur showed off his raw speed and physical strength to move into the second round at the China Open with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win over Mariano Navone.
The Australian started slowly, suffering an early break of his serve, but he quickly broke back to put things on level terms as the first set went to a tiebreak.
De Minaur needed his full skillset to take it out at 6-4 in the breaker as Navone tried, but failed, to move him around the court in search of a winner, culminating in an epic set-point that had De Minaur roaring after he'd won it.
The second set was a little more straightforward for De Minaur, although the Argentinean had him in trouble at 0-40 with the Australian up 4-2.
But a series of excellent serves snuffed out the opportunity for Navone, and he wouldn't win another game as De Minaur saw out the victory.
"I did great, I didn't panic," De Minaur said of that moment.
"I just focused on my serve and I was able to play some good serves, play some good points, and it ended up being a key, crucial game.
"It was a very physical match," De Minaur added. "It's tough to finish points out here – we're both great movers – there was a lot of court coverage today."
De Minaur took Jannik Sinner close in the semi-finals at the China Open in 2025 and he hopes to return to something close to that level as he hunts more points in the fight to reach the year-end ATP Finals.
"Hopefully I keep on building, and that's what it's all about," he said.
"It was a good start today, I gave myself a chance to play even better next match. Last year I played some great tennis, and I know I can do it here [in Beijing], so hopefully I can bring [that 2025 form] back."
