Alex de Minaur has made an impressive start to his Washington Open campaign, notching a straight-sets victory over China’s Bu Yunchaokete.
Playing his first event since his heartbreaking defeat to Novak Djokovic in the fourth round at Wimbledon, the Australian No.1 claimed a morale-boosting 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 win to set up a last-16 clash with Czech Jiri Lehecka.
As seventh seed at the tournament, de Minaur was favourite to see off world No.75 Bu. Now the Australian can take heart from a solid performance at the hardcourt ATP 500 tournament as he builds towards next month’s US Open, where last year he reached his third consecutive grand slam quarter-final.
Solid start 🫡@alexdeminaur fends off Bu 7-6, 6-2 to open his campaign in DC.#MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/DubJ1ftmyA
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) July 23, 2025
De Minaur has enjoyed previous success in the American capital. In 2018, then ranked No.72, he made a surprise run to his first ATP 500 final, where he lost 6-2 6-4 to Alexander Zverev.
Now 26, the world No.13 will look to make further progression at the Washington Open after racking up his 280th career win and 31st this season as he continues his quest to return to the top 10.
However, there was no such joy for De Minaur’s compatriot Aleksandar Vukic, the Sydneysider suffering a 6-3 6-2 defeat to the top-seeded Taylor Fritz.
American Fritz was making his first appearance since his impressive semi-final run at Wimbledon, where he gave Carlos Alcaraz a real test.
And Australia’s world No.24 Alexei Popyrin is also out after a bruising 7-5 5-7 6-3 defeat to China’s Yibing Wu, who claimed his first win over a top-25 player in over two years in two hours and 37 minutes.
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