While all eyes are on Alexei Popryin at the US Open today, come Tuesday morning it will be the all-Australian fourth round clash between Alex de Minaur and Jordan Thompson that captures the attention. That means a guaranteed Aussie in the final eight.
Even the combatants admit their clash – scheduled for 7am (AEST) – will be like big brother versus little brother.
Having grown up together in Sydney, de Minaur says he’s forever indebted to Thompson for taking him under his wing more than a decade ago.
Alex de Minaur in his third round match against Dan Evans.Credit: AP
De Minaur was a wide-eyed 14-year-old, Thompson five years his senior. “He was the guy I was looking up to and he’s always given me a lot of time,” de Minaur said.
“He’s helped me out a lot. I’ve learned a lot through him, even when he was playing the pros, the slams and I was still in the juniors.“
More importantly, Thompson had something de Minaur didn’t back in those days.
“I remember one of the biggest things is that he had a car,” de Minaur said. “So he would drive us to the gym, which otherwise was like a 15, 20-minute walk.
The winner will have a huge opportunity on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) against either British world No.25 Jack Draper or unseeded Czech Tomas Machac to reach their maiden grand slam semi-final.