Australian star de Minaur marches on at Wimbledon

Fifth seed Alex de Minaur booked his place in the Wimbledon last 16 by beating American Zachary Svajda, who was playing in his first main draw at the tournament, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. In a contest lasting two hours and 40 minutes on Court 3, the Australian star dropped his first set of the championships but never let the result slip into real danger.

The world number six started quickly and took the opening set with ease. Svajda then produced some fearless tennis to snatch the second 7-5 and briefly raise hopes of an upset, but the gap in experience told from there. De Minaur reorganised his game and reeled off the third and fourth sets to close out the match.

Svajda's story remains one of the tournament's most striking subplots. Having fallen in qualifying three years in a row, the young American reached the third round on his main-draw debut. Ranked 229th in the world a year ago and now up to 66th, he leaves London with an enormous boost of confidence.

For De Minaur, the ambitions are far greater. The Australian, who dispatched Burruchaga and Mannarino without dropping a set in the opening rounds, has never won a match beyond the fourth round at the All England Club; his 2024 quarterfinal ended in a walkover through injury before he could take to the court. Looking far sharper this year, the 27-year-old will be chasing a change to that statistic in the second week.

Known for defending every corner of the court with relentless energy and growing stronger as rallies lengthen, De Minaur also swept away most of the question marks hanging over his early grass-court form. His last-16 opponent will emerge from another clash in his section of the draw.

Match Stats
Score: 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 · Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes
Breaks: De Minaur 8/18 – Svajda 4/11
Second-serve points won: De Minaur 59% – Svajda 30%

Image: Punto de Break