De Minaur drops a set, then takes over

For a tournament returning to competition after a fairly serious injury, it's fair to say that the contract has almost been fulfilled for Alex De Minaur.

Absent from the courts since his injury at Wimbledon, the world number 10 finally had to wait until the US Open to regain his taste for tournaments.

Far from disappointing, the Australian is gradually finding his feet again, as demonstrated by his qualification for the Round of 16 on Saturday.

After a spirited first-round victory over Giron (6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4), he showed much more mastery in the second round to eliminate Virtanen (7-5, 6-1, 7-6).

Faced with a confident Dan Evans, who had beaten Khachanov in the first round, De Minaur resisted the Briton's ardor before blowing him out of the water (6-3, 6-7, 6-0, 6-0).

Playing his best match of the tournament, the 25-year-old dominated in almost every aspect of the game (9 break points, 56 winners, 41 unforced errors, 11 aces, 83% of points won on first ball).

Ever the fighter, Evans did everything in his power to turn the match around, even pulling off a magnificent win in the second set, but his opponent's physical density finally got the better of his fighting spirit.

For a place in the quarter-finals, De Minaur will face compatriot Jordan Thompson. Quite an opportunity!