It’s a US Open to remember for Alex de Minaur…

The 21-year-old Uruguayan/Spanish Australian tennis player defeated Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2 at Flushing Meadows on Monday to reach into his first-ver Grand Slam quarterfinal.

He’s also the first Australian to reach the men’s last eight at the US Open since John Millman in 2018.

de Minaur, the 21st seed, will next face Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals.

When the US Open started de Minaur would’ve been considered as a potential title winner.

But with Novak Djokovic disqualified on Sunday after striking a line judge in the throat with a ball, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal not at Flushing Meadows and Andy Murray suffering an early round defeat, the chances of de Minaur winning the title have grown.

With the stakes a little higher, the opening set unfolded like the first round of a prize fight with both players probing for openings and neither managing a single break chance.

In the tiebreak it was Pospisil who had looked poised to land the first blow by going up 6-2, but De Minaur swept the next six points to grab a 1-0 lead.

“That first set was crucial,” said de Minaur. “I think it was just a couple of things going his way and then my way.

“I went down 6-2 but I don’t think I played a bad tiebreak I was just unlucky here and there.

“I just tried to stay calm, do my thing.”

After that effort the Pospisil could only muster token resistance, with de Minaur securing an early break in the second and third sets and never allowing him a chance to get back into the match.