ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST AS DEMINAUR ADVANCES TO MADRID R16

Alex de Minaur continues to make winning a habit in 2025, taking care of another opponent on his way to the Round of 16 in Madrid.

Standing in his way on the Arantxa Stadium today was Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the former world No.10 and Wimbledon semi-finalist, a player the Aussie had never lost to previously in their four meetings, but it had been three years since their last.

In that time, Shapovalov had fallen outside the top 100 due to form and injury, coming into Madrid as the 29th seed, while the demon has continued to rise to take his place in the top 10.

Coming off a bizzare Monday, where he was suppose to play as the last match of the night session which didn't eventuate due to the 10 hour power outage across the country, he had to get himself into the competitive zone to play first up Tuesday, after in his own words going off the grid yesterday.

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It was the fifth game of the first set where de Minaur was able to get the crucial break of serve, after Shapovalov had saved a break point, but then double-faulted.

The Aussie in the sixth game of the set was also able to save a break point for 4-2 and maintain that buffer to the end of the set, winning it 6-3.

In the second set, break serve for both players proved tough, going all the way to the tie break, where the 26-year-old went up a notch to claim it seven points to three and book his spot in the last 16.

Consistency of hitting and making balls, with a tidy fifteen unforced errors compared to 35 from his opponent and taking care of his service games was a big key in another victory.

24 wins for the season, no one has won more than that, and once again, he is putting himself in contention to go deep into the draw of a tournament with Italian Lorenzo Musetti to be his next opponent.

The pair recently just met in the semi-finals of Monte Carlo with Musetti winning from a set down 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 to lead the head-to-head 2-1.

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