Alex de Minaur was no match for fellow rising star Alexander Zverev on Thursday night but the Australia young gun will still achieve a career-high ranking after reaching the third round at the Shanghai Masters.
The Sydney-sider was dispatched by the impressive Zverev 6-1 6-4 on Thursday, with the German to face Kyle Edmund in the quarterfinals.
De Minaur eclipsed Nick Kyrgios as Australia’s highest-ranked player last week after rising to No.33 on the official world rankings.
Despite suffering his third loss to world No.5 Zverev in as many meetings, the 19-year-old is expected to reach a career-high ranking of 31st on Monday.
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Zverev started the match strongly but was aided by De Minaur who produced several uncharacteristic errors to surrender the first set in quick time.
The Aussie put up more of a fight in the second, saving a break point in the fifth game to stay on serve.
He was unable to escape in his next service game as Zverev broke De Minaur to take a 4-3 lead.
De Minaur refused to surrender but he was unable to cash in on any of the five break points he forced throughout the match.
Fittingly, Zverev completed his serving clinic with an ace to close out the match and maintain his undefeated record against the gutsy Australian.
