Teenagers De Minaur and Mmoh score upset wins in Brisbane

[January 03, 2018]  (Reuters) - Australian teenager Alex De Minaur delighted his home fans with an inspired performance to stun fourth seed Milos Raonic and move into the Brisbane Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old wildcard broke the big-serving former champion three times en route to a 6-4 6-4 upset in 94 minutes and set up a clash with American teenager Michael Mmoh.

World number 208 De Minaur put his Canadian opponent under pressure early on in the contest, grabbing a break in the third game before hanging on to take the first set.

A rusty Raonic tried to mount a comeback late in the second set but De Minaur resisted the charge of the world number 24 and pushed on for the biggest win of his career.

Mmoh, 19, earlier saved six break points and converted four of his own to upset eighth seed Mischa Zverev 6-2 5-7 6-4 for only his second victory on the ATP Tour.

Nick Kyrgios overcame pain in his knee to beat Australian compatriot Matthew Ebden 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-2 in his first singles match since a hip injury ended his season in October.

Kyrgios, who took a medical timeout while trailing 4-5 in the opening set, received treatment again two games later and struggled to find his feet as Ebden edged the tiebreaker.

 

Australia's Alex De Minaur reacts during the Men's singles first round match against Austria's Gerald Melzer. REUTERS/Edgar Su

The world number 21 hit back in the second set and pulled away in the decider to set up a clash with Alexandr Dolgopolov who beat Argentina's Horacio Zeballos 6-1 6-2.

"It took me a while to get used to playing a match again," Kyrgios said after the 131-minute encounter.

"I've been training here for so long and training on center court, it kind of didn't feel like a match. The longer the match went, the better I played, the looser I got. I knew it was going to be a tough day today. He's a tough competitor."

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.