Dominant Demon starts to dream with career-best chance looming as Wimbledon draw opens up

After leaving Paris lamenting a golden opportunity lost, Alex de Minaur has set about trying to exploit an opening in the Wimbledon draw with intent.

The Aussie star continued his impressive start in London with another dominant performance on Thursday when far too sharp for French veteran Adrian Mannarino.

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The first of four Australians in second round action on Court 3 on Thursday, 27-year-old reached the third round for the fifth time in eight visits to the All England Club with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 over his 40th ranked rival.

With powerful American Ben Shelton, the No.4 seed who shaped as a potential quarterfinal rival for the Aussie, ousted in the first round, there is an opening for de Minaur to push to a career best effort in a major if he can sustain his form.

“The way I look at it is (that) I’m in the third round, right? I want to go deep, of course. I want to give myself that opportunity,” he said.

“But sadly, as much as I would love to just jump a couple steps and put myself already in that Sunday match, there’s lots of matches and lots of tough moments that I’ve got to get through, right?

“So the way I really look at it is … I only got told who I was playing in the next round at the end of my match. I will see how they go today.”

A quarterfinalist at Wimbledon two years ago, the Sydneysider was able to seize control early in the first set against a rival who, as a percentage of his overall career wins, has won more on grass than any other player.

The left-handed Mannarino has his racquet strung extremely loose and hits flatter than anyone on the tour, with his ability to disrupt the rhythm of his rivals a feature during an extended career in which he has won five ATP Tour titles.

But de Minaur strikes the ball flatter than most as well and has lost only once to Mannarino, who was featuring in his 15th Wimbledon, in seven outings, which includes their three most recent meetings on grass.

The seven-time major quarterfinalist was tested on serve by his 38-year-old rival, conceding a break in the infancy of the first set and also facing break points when trying to serve out the second, but the Australian was stronger in virtually category.

After saving more break points when trailing 1-2 in the third set, the world No.6 rattled off the final five games in a hurry to progress in just 1hr 50min and has dropped just 14 of the 51 games he has played in two rounds.

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While clearly in good form, the Australian’s third round encounter is certain to be a tougher proposition regardless of whether his opponent is Kamil Majchrzak or Zachary Svajda.

The former is on the comeback trail after serving a doping suspension and defeated de Minaur for the first time in the final of a tournament on grass in the Netherlands last month, with the decider going to a super tie-breaker.

Svajda, meanwhile, is an emerging American who showed his promise when ousting Australians Alexei Popyrin and Adam Walton on route to the last 16 at Roland Garros last month.

“Seeds lose. Upsets happen. This sport is unpredictable,” he said.

“It’s not straightforward, so whether you’re ranked higher than your opponent, it really means nothing when you go into the match. You both start the same. It’s just another match.”

De Minaur was the first of three Australians in action on Court 3 on Thursday.

Maya Joint started well in her clash with exciting Filipino Alexandra Eala, the 29th seed, after her strong performance against Serena Williams on Tuesday evening in London.

But she was unable to sustain her level when beaten 3-6 6-2 6-0.

James Duckworth will then tackle Roland Garros finalist Flavio Cobolli, the 9th seed. Kimberly Birrell, meanwhile, will be aiming to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the first time when she faces 17th seed Sorana Cirstea on Court 12.

Daria Kasatkina, meanwhile, will face four-time major champion Naomi Osaka in the third round on Friday and is seeking her first win in what will be her fourth outing against the former world No.1.