DC Open: Alex de Minaur beats Stefanos Tsitsipas; Leylah Fernandez upset

WASHINGTON — The third day of the Mubadala DC Open saw one defending champion beat a player who had previously dominated them and another lose handily.

Alex de Minaur conquers historically challenging foe

Top-seeded Alex de Minaur entered Wednesday sporting a 1-12 record against unranked Stefanos Tsitsipas. But de Minaur, the ATP defending DC Open champion, handled the 27-year-old 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Tournament chair Mark Ein on Tuesday cited the de Minaur-Tsitsipas first-round matchup as a prime example of the intrigue the tournament’s new 32-player format brings — a downshift after there were 48 players on the men’s and women’s side, respectively, in previous years.

Ein was right. Wednesday presented an exciting challenge for de Minaur in his title-defense run. But Tsitsipas, a two-time Grand Slam finalist who’s dropped to No. 51 in the ATP rankings, ultimately fell short in his upset bid.

“I’m proud of myself to get through a tricky match,” de Minaur said. “Looking forward to what’s next.”

Awaiting de Minaur is Cruz Hewitt, who on Tuesday became the youngest player to win a match in Washington since Kei Nishikori, who did so in 2007. Hewitt, 17, is the son of two-time Grand Slam singles champion Lleyton Hewitt.

De Minaur watched Hewitt grow up the last 10 years, he said, adding that they hit together “countless times.”

“I think it’s a funny kind of contrast to how his dad used to play, right? That’s always kind of an inside joke that they play quite differently. Cruz, he’s got the ability to take the racket out of your hands,” de Minaur said. “He’s very comfortable going after the ball and having big swings at it.”

The pair will matchup with a quarterfinals berth on the line. De Minaur said he’s “ready for the challenge.”

Women’s side sees upsets, men’s favorites advance

WTA defending DC Open champion Leylah Fernandez was upset by 21-year-old rising Filipino star Alex Eala 2-6, 6-7 (1-7). Eala will face the winner of No. 2-seed Elina Svitolina and Veronika Kudermetova, with a chance to advance to a WTA 500-level tournament semifinal for the second time after she reached that stage at the Berlin Open in June.

Eighth-seeded American Emma Navarro lost to Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, while Naomi Osaka beat Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 3-1 after the American retired because of injury.

In women’s doubles, American pair Venus Williams and Diana Shnaider lost to Japanese duo Xu Yifan and Tang Qianhui 4-6, 2-6. The 46-year-old Williams lost in singles on Tuesday.

On the men’s side, the favorites thrived.

Fourth-seed Italian Lorenzo Musetti beat Australian Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Third-seed Taylor Fritz, one of four American men left in the DC Open, earned a victory over unseeded Kamil Majchrzak 6-3, 6-4.

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“I think I played really well overall,” Fritz said. “Something obviously I harp on is the break points — the big points — I could’ve played a bit better and gotten more than one break.”

American Alex Michelsen handled Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), while 19-year-old Rafael Jodar beat Nishikori, a 2015 DC Open champion, 6-3, 6-2.

“Played many times here, and I love the feeling of the center court atmosphere,” Nishikori said. “The crowd is always nice. It was just [a] shame to not play good today.”

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