Antwerp, Belgium, 17 October 2024 | Jackson Mansell

Alex de Minaur has returned to the tour in style, recovering from a slow start to defeat Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round of the Antwerp ATP 500 event.

In his first match in six weeks, the world No.9 came from a set down to triumph against the 31-year-old Spaniard 2-6 6-4 6-2.

The European Open marks the first tournament outside the majors the Australian has contested since Queen’s in June, due to a lingering hip injury sustained on his run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

De Minaur returned to make the US Open quarterfinals in September before his injury flared again during a straight-sets defeat to Jack Draper and he had not competed since.

The 25-year-old was grateful he was able to fight back for a win on his return to tour.

“It’s never easy coming back from injury or from a long time playing. Look I am happy I was able to win today, it took a lot of fight and effort, so I’m happy to get a first win here in Antwerp,” De Minaur told TennisTV.

“The match is never over until the last point, that’s what I always tell myself. I’m always going to compete until the very end, and it’s helped me win a lot of matches, so I better keep doing it.”

“I think as the match went on, I started to find my rhythm, my level, I became a little bit more aggressive and did what I needed to do get the win today to. Hopefully I can build on this and the next match I can play even better.”

In the quarterfinals, the top seed will next face Frenchman Hugo Gaston, a player who defeated him at Roland Garros in 2022.

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Meanwhile, Aleksandar Vukic won an all-Australian showdown in Almaty against recent Hangzhou Challenger title winner James Duckworth.

The world No.85 served strongly throughout the match, landing 14 aces compared to Duckworth’s four to prevail 6-4 7-5. Vukic set up a second-round match with eighth seed Adrian Mannarino.

On the women’s side, world No.178 Kimberly Birrell has progressed to the next round of the Japan Open in Osaka. Birrell defeated Zheng Saisai 6-2 6-3 inside 72 minutes.

Birrell reached the round of 16 at a WTA 250 event for the first time since June. She will face world No.28 Elise Mertens this afternoon.

It comes as Australia’s top-two ranked women, Olivia Gadecki and Ajla Tomljanovic, and world No.276 Priscilla Hon lost in the first round in Ningbo.

In doubles, top seeds Ellen Perez and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez moved into the Ningbo WTA 250 quarterfinals, while at the Stockholm ATP 250 event, John-Patrick Smith and German Andreas Mies also reached the quarterfinals.

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