De Minaur, Auger-Aliassime through to Shanghai quarter-finals

AFP | Shanghai

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Australia’s Alex de Minaur cruised through to the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals yesterday, ousting Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-5, 6-2.

De Minaur is chasing his second title of the year and is, after Novak Djokovic, the highest ranked player left standing after a string of high-profile exits.

The first set heated up when the world number seven needed five break points in the 11th game against Borges, converting the last with a backhand for a decisive advantage.

De Minaur carried the momentum into the second set, breaking in the first and third games.

“The first set was a very tight set, we both were kind of trying to figure each other out,” said the 26-year-old De Minaur.

“In the second set, I came out firing and I played some aggressive tennis... but still, it was very physical out there.”

De Minaur remained cautious about his title chances, despite the elimination of so many top seeds, including number two seed Jannik Sinner and third-ranked Alexander Zverev.

“In our side of the draw, there’s a lot of quality players, so it’s still going to be a battle,” he said.

Another top-10 player fell yesterday as Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti lost to Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2.

Thirteenth-ranked Auger-Aliassime looked sharp throughout, breaking in the fifth game.

He went on to dominate the second set, breaking Musetti, the world number nine, in the fifth and seventh games.