Alex de Minaur, the Australian No. 1 and fifth seed, advanced to the third round of Wimbledon with a commanding 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over French veteran Adrian Mannarino on Thursday. The match, played under sunny skies on Court 3, lasted one hour and 49 minutes.
Dominant start for De Minaur
De Minaur won the first two sets in 38 minutes each, breaking Mannarino twice in the first set and three times in the second. However, his serve was occasionally shaky, as he was broken once in each of those sets, with his second delivery proving vulnerable.
In the third set, de Minaur held serve without facing a break point, though he survived a lengthy service game at 2-2 that featured five deuces. He then broke Mannarino to love to seal the match.
Improved performance
De Minaur acknowledged his improvement from a nervy first-round win over Roman Andres Burruchaga. “I definitely think I started better, I had more intent, more conviction in what I needed to do,” he said. He added that he was “super stoked and super grateful to be playing some good tennis with some great weather here in London. I just love it here and I’m hoping I can stay here for a long time.”
Next opponent
De Minaur will face either Kamil Majchrzak, who surprisingly beat him in the final at 's-Hertogenbosch recently, or American Zach Svajda, whom de Minaur has never faced. Majchrzak's win was his first in three meetings against the Australian.
