In missing the rest of the North American hard-court events prior to Flushing Meadows and then being sidelined for the entirety of the Asian swing, de Minaur now finds himself at No. 9 in the race to Turin.
“It hasn’t been easy by any means. Not being able to play and almost having the opportunity taken away from my hands to go out there and compete, keep striving and playing off that confidence has been tough,” de Minaur says.
“So now we’re here at the end of the year, I’m not feeling 100 percent healthy, but there’s not too many chances to play matches.”
The Sydney native returned last week in Antwerp, where he went down 7-5 in the third to Hugo Gaston in their quarterfinal. On Tuesday in the Austrian capital, de Minaur put a slow start behind him to thwart Jan-Lennard Struff, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
