New York, USA, 30 August 2022 | Matt Trollope

Alex de Minaur moved into the second round of the US Open today after seeing off a wayward Filip Krajinovic.

De Minaur, the 18th seed, beat the Serb 7-5 6-2 6-3 to set up a second-round meeting with Cristian Garin, the Chilean who stopped him in five sets at Wimbledon.

“(I’m) just staying in the moment,” said De Minaur, who improved to 36-19 in 2022.

“At times I expect perfect tennis out of myself. Reality of the sport is that it’s not always going to come, so it’s about adapting and kind of just being able to accept mistakes. That’s for me the biggest thing.

“Happy to get a win against a tough opponent. Nice, hot, quick, swirly conditions. It wasn’t, as I would call it, beautiful tennis. But I did exactly what I needed to do and very happy to be in the second round.”

On the same Flushing Meadows court earlier in the day, fellow Australian John Millman bowed out in five sets to powerful American wildcard Emilio Nava.

Millman battled for almost four hours before Nava struck a 63rd winner to set up a second-round meeting with 2012 champion Andy Murray. 

De Minaur faced a tough prospect in Krajinovic, a former world No.26 who has historically thrived on fast courts. 

But the Aussie 23-year-old brought impressive form of his own into this match, having won the Atlanta ATP title and seven of his past 10 matches.

He fell behind an early break before winning seven of the next 10 games to take the first set, and raced ahead 4-1 in the second thanks to a beautifully-struck drop shot. 

Krajinovic dumped a groundstroke into the net – one of 50 unforced errors he would commit throughout the match – to hand De Minaur a two-sets-to-love lead.

De Minaur faced challenges in the third; he surrendered serve early to fall behind 2-0, and later trailed 0-40 when attempting to serve out the match. 

But he rose to meet those challenges, completing his first-round assignment in exactly two hours.

“The one thing I would say coming into this match I probably haven’t had before is the confidence in myself that I’m very tough to beat over five sets if I’m there competing every single point. Especially in hot conditions,” De Minaur said,

“If I play Garin (next), then hopefully I can get some revenge. But either way it’s just another tennis match. Hopefully I can go out there and play some good tennis and get the win. That’s all I care about.”

> READ: Kyrgios beats Kokkinakis in all-Australian showdown

For Millman, his match was one in which he was always playing catch up against the Australian Open 2019 boys’ singles finalist.

He went down a break in the first set, fell behind two sets to one, and trailed 3-1 in the fifth after double-faulting to lose the game.

But as always, he fought.

He could have slumped as the fifth set slipped away from him; the hyper-aggressive Nava pounded a flurry of winners from the baseline to move ahead 4-1, before Millman bogged him down in a game that extended to 10 deuces and almost 15 minutes.

Yet Nava scorched a backhand return winner to eventually break for a 5-1 lead, and sealed victory in a touch under four hours with another clean winner.

Millman, who advanced to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows in 2018, finished with less than half Nava’s winner tally.

Aussies in action – US Open

TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
[18] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 7-5 6-2 6-3
[23] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) d Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 6-3 6-4 7-6(4)
Jordan Thompson (AUS) d Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 2-6 1-6 6-2 6-4 6-4
[WC] Emilio Nava (USA) d John Millman (AUS) 7-6(7) 4-6 7-6(4) 1-6 6-1

Women’s singles, first round
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) d Karolina Muchova (CZE) 6-3 7-6(5)
Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROU) d Daria Saville (AUS) 3-6 6-2 6-4

COMING UP
Men’s singles, first round
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v Tseng Chun-hsin (TPE)
James Duckworth (AUS) v Chris O’Connell (AUS)
Jason Kubler (AUS) v Mikael Ymer (SWE)
[WC] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) v [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Men’s singles, second round
[18] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Cristian Garin (CHI)
[23] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v Benjamin Bonzi (FRA)
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [Q] Daniel Elahi Galan (COL)

> VIEW: US Open 2022 men’s singles draw

Women’s singles, first round
[WC] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS) v [Q] Yuan Yue (CHN)

Women’s singles, second round
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v Evgeniya Rodina

> VIEW: US Open 2022 women’s singles draw

> READ: US Open 2022 doubles draws revealed

Book online, play today: Visit play.tennis.com.au to get out on court and have some fun!