Alex de Minaur dealt fresh blow ahead of US Open following Paris Olympics heartbreak
The Aussie could fall out of the top 10 before the US Open.
The hip injury that ended Alex de Minaur's Wimbledon campaign and crippled his Olympic singles dream could now result in him dropping out of the top ten in the men's tennis rankings. The Aussie star, who reached back-to-back quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, has not played a singles match since withdrawing from his quarterfinal clash against Novak Djokovic at the All England Club in July.
De Minaur sustained the injury during the fourth round at Wimbledon and despite entering the singles draw at the Olympics, he withdrew on the eve of the match. He still competed in Paris alongside his childhood friend, Alexei Popyrin but the pair crashed out in straight sets to Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.
In the doubles match, the Aussie wasn't moving well at all, clearly still hampered by the hip injury. And on Saturday he also withdrew from the upcoming Cincinnati Masters, putting his top 10 ranking under serious threat. The 25-year-old, who peaked at No.6 in the rankings, currently sits at No.10 on the live rankings and is likely to drop out of the men's top ten by the end of the weekend.
American Taylor Fritz can take the Aussie's place in the top ten if he makes a deep run at the Montreal Masters. This is due to De Minaur being unable to defend the 750 points he earned for reaching finals in Los Cabos and Montreal last year and by missing Cincinnati he will drop even more rankings points.
The Aussie is still expected to take his place at the US Open, which kicks off on August 26, however, may not be seeded in the top 10 at that grand slam. But despite missing the Cincinnati Masters, de Minaur is still putting in work. He travelled to Belgrade to train with former top-10-ranked Serbian Janko Tipsarevic and promising junior Amir Omarkhanov, as he continues his recovery.
RELATED:
Tennis fans heartbroken as Rafa Nadal drops sad announcement
Nina Kennedy's triumph after ugly storm around shared gold medal
Tony Hawk's staggering move after 14-year-old Aussie wins gold
Alexei Popyrin gets major win in blustery conditions
After being knocked out of the Olympic singles and doubles tournaments, Popyrin has continued his solid recent form, reaching his second ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal. On Thursday, the Aussie scored his first top-20 win since April over Ben Shelton 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in Montreal.
A tropical storm has caused havoc at the tournament, with thirteen matches postponed, including three second-round singles matches that were delayed on Thursday night. The ATP Tour event is set to run through Monday, with tournament organisers hopeful no more delays are on the horizon.
Top-seed Jannik Sinner opened his Montreal title defence with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Borna Coric in the second round after missing the Olympics because of tonsillitis. And the Italian says the conditions at the Canadian Open are incredibly challenging.
"It's very tough to play here, it's a bit breezy and windy and the ball flies a bit, so we try to get better day by day," Sinner said. "I've been here for a little bit so I'm maybe a bit more used to the conditions, but still, I'm very happy about the performance. Today was for sure a very positive day, so let's see what's coming."
