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Young gun Alex De Minaur will be looking to become the first player under the age of 18 to reach the quarter-finals of the Sydney International since 1999 when he takes on Andrey Kuznetsov. Join The Roar for live scores from around 5:30pm (AEDT).
The last man to make the quarter-finals of the Sydney International under the age of 18 was one of Australia’s best ever, Lleyton Hewitt way back in 1999.
De Minaur now finds himself in a similar position, where he is just a single win away from achieving the same.
It’s been a stellar start to the summer for the runner-up of last year’s boys Wimbledon Championship, after he surprised everyone to qualify for the Brisbane International and then was handed a wildcard to this tournament and the Australian Open.
He was dealt a tough first round match at the Sydney International though, but again shocked to blow past Benoit Paire in three hard-fought sets, which included a nervous tie-breaker at the end of the third.
Kuznetsov, on the other hand has struggled through the start of his season and after cracking the top 50 in the world rankings at the end of 2016 will be looking to get back to his best ahead of the first grand slam of the year.
It wasn’t exactly an easy match to draw for Kuznetsov though, as he went down in three sets to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
In the first round at Sydney though, he was able to blow past a struggling Martin Klizan, who has to retire down 3-0 in the second set due to an injury.
With that being said, Kuznetsov probably hasn’t had a great hit out to ensure his first win of the season, and for that reason there is still an air of doubt about exactly how he will play against the young Aussie who he will know next to nothing about.
Prediction
De Minaur wasn’t supposed to beat Paire in the first round and has looked in some super form after qualifying in Brisbane. Kuznetsov, on the other hand hasn’t – but he did look better against Klizan and unfortunately for the Aussie, this should be curtains on his run.
Kuznetsov in three sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this men’s second round match at the Sydney International from around 5:30pm (AEDT) or following the Daria Kasatkina vs Johanna Konta match on Show Court 1 from around 5:30pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to drop a comment below.
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