Monte Carlo, 11 April 2024 | Dan Imhoff

Alex de Minaur has quashed compatriot Alexei Popyrin’s bid for back-to-back top-15 wins to advance to the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time on Thursday.

The 11^th seed’s 6-3 6-4 triumph lifted him to his third Masters 1000 quarterfinal after Cincinnati and Paris last year and booked a showdown with either top seed Novak Djokovic or Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

World No.46 Popyrin had claimed the pair’s most recent encounter at the 2021 Paris Masters and was coming off his sixth career top-10 win over defending champion Andrey Rublev.

De Minaur made a slow start in his prior round against Tallon Griekspoor, in which he was forced to bounce back in three sets.

There were no such troubles in his first clash against Popyrin on clay, however, as he became the first Australian to reach a singles quarterfinal at the tournament since Mark Philippoussis in 1999.

Aussies in action – Monte Carlo

RESULTS
Men’s singles, third round
[11] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-3 6-4

COMING UP
Men’s singles, quarterfinals
[11] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) or Lorenzo Musetti (ITA)

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