De Minaur back on track with smart start in Barcelona

Four days after being edged out in an epic semi-final duel in Monte Carlo, Alex de Minaur was back on the clay-court victory march in Barcelona.

The Australian star moved smoothly into the second round of the Barcelona Open with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Talking before the match, De Minaur had warned: "I'm starting to become dangerous on this surface."

True to his word, the world No.7 dominated throughout. He seized the initiative with early breaks in both sets and consolidated without conceding a single break point.

In contrast, Etcheverry, also beaten 6-1 6-4 by De Minaur at the United Cup in Sydney in December, failed to convert two break points of his own. lt was all over in 82 minutes.

De Minaur last week signalled his clay-court intentions by scorching through to the last four at the Monte Carlo Masters, demolishing Daniil Medvedev 6-2 6-2 in the last 16 before an astonishing 'double bagel' 6-0 6-0 victory over Grigor Dimitrov gave him a semi-final berth.

Looking set to become the first Australian since John Newcombe in 1969 to reach the final of the prestigious Masters 1000 event, he was only halted by in a near three-hour battle that ended in a tie-break defeat against Italy's Lorenzo Musetti, who fought back to win 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

Perhaps the victory took a heavy toll for Musetti, who crumbled to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 reverse at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz in the final 24 hours later.

Back in Barcelona, De Minaur now faces Jacob Fearnley, the British No.2 who claimed his first ATP Tour main draw win on clay against Roberto Carballes Baena. The Scot, who made it into the main draw as a lucky loser, beat the Spaniard 6-1 7-5 .

Fearnley was ranked outside the top 600 a year ago, but won four ATP Challenger titles in 2024 to rise inside the top 100.

Meanwhile, Australia's Christopher O'Connell was edged out 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3) by recent Marrakesh champion Luciano Darderi at the BMW Open in Munich.