De Minaur cruises past Hewitt in all-Aussie clash to reach Washington quarter-finals

[p]Top-seeded Minaur was always likely to prove too much for 17-year-old qualifier [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hewitt-lleyton/t4WYF3mC/"]Hewitt[/a] - son of Aussie great Lleyton Hewitt - who had only captured his first ATP Tour victory in Tuesday's first round.[/p][p]The first set threatened to become a demolition, as an efficient [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-minaur-alex/EZgZ9Xfh/"]De Minaur[/a] repeatedly broke Hewitt for a 5-0 lead.[/p][p]But Hewitt found his feet, breaking back in the sixth game as De Minaur found the net, and then held serve, before succumbing 6-2.[/p][p]Cheered on by a crowd including his famous father, Hewitt started the second set brightly.[/p][p]But he was broken again on his second service game, and could not reel back in De Minaur, who warmly embraced the youngster at the net after taking the match.[/p][p]It was the first head-to-head ATP Tour match between the two men, who have known each other for years, with Hewitt's father captaining Australia's Davis Cup team.[/p][p][b]"It was definitely weird,"[/b] said De Minaur. [b]"I knew I was going to play him on the Tour some day, but I didn't actually expect it to be this week.[/b][/p][p]"It was an amazing feeling. Even all the lead up, seeing all the incredible pictures that we have together and how we've both grown up.[/p][p][b]"I'm glad I managed to get through, but I'm sure we're going to have many battles in the years to come."[/b][/p][embed guid="0e1e4b0f-4a82-424d-91ab-85ea5b04cbe5" url="https://x.com/TennisTV/status/2082903094103298144" social-type="twitter" /][p]De Minaur will play American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nakashima-brandon/ETGnbrpH/"]Brandon Nakashima[/a], who upset Czech seventh seed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mensik-jakub/UFj257G8/"]Jakub Mensik[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/mensik-j-UFj257G8/nakashima-b-ETGnbrpH/?mid=p60F0hOp"]7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-4[/a] to reach the Washington quarter-finals for a second year running.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/de-minaur-a-EZgZ9Xfh/hewitt-c-pOQrEMUs/?mid=CfsWYAxo"][b]Check out the match summary her[/b]e[/a].[/p]