Alex de Minaur has revealed he couldn’t bring himself to watch the 2020 Australian Open after cruising into the third round of this year’s event with a 6-3 6-3 7-5 victory over Uruguay veteran Pablo Cuevas.
The 21-year-old was a late scratching 13 months ago after he was sidelined with an abdominal strain.
“Well that was a pretty horrible moment, it wasn’t ideal that I had to pull out of my home Slam, safe to say I was really looking forward to it,” De Minaur said.
“So I kind of had to switch off everything, switch off social media, didn’t watch the tournament.
MORE: Barty plays down injury concerns
“And it just (gave me) a bit more hunger, a bit more fuel to drive that energy and now to be back here I’m just soaking it all in and damn it feels good to be back here in Australia.”
The 21st seed continued to make up for lost time on Thursday night with his second straight-sets victory of the tournament after sweeping aside American Tennys Sandgren in the opening round.
He took just under two hours to dispose of the world No.72 and progress to the third round of the Australian Open for the second time.
De Minaur has never been past the third round of his home grand slam and faces a tough assignment against Italian 16th seed Fabio Fognini on Sunday.
The fiery Italian made headlines on Thursday night after he was involved in a heated slanging match with countryman Salvator Caruso after their four-hour battle.
Caruso and Fognini traded insults and had to be separated after the latter won the brutal contest 4-6 6-2 2-6 6-3 7-6 (14-12).
“It’s a quality opponent,” De Minaur said of his next assignment.
“Fabio has been up there for a very long time and he’s back to playing his best tennis.
“It’s going to be a very tough one, but I’m happy to be in the third round.”
