Wimbledon 2026 as it happened: Draw opens up for de Minaur after American star’s defeat

Alex de Minaur believes Wimbledon represents his best chance to win a grand slam title as a shock early exit from a projected quarter-final rival presents him with a golden opportunity.

Australia’s world No.6, who has his wedding to look forward to post-tournament, withstood an early challenge from Argentine grasscourt novice Roman Andres Burruchaga before posting a runaway 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 6-0 victory to begin in style.

De Minaur’s hopes of reaching a maiden major semi-final spiked on Tuesday when American fourth seed Ben Shelton – his potential last-eight opponent – suffered a shock five-set defeat to Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen.

The Australian is a seven-time grand slam quarter-finalist, and was crestfallen after failing to capitalise on Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic being injured or out by the third round at Roland-Garros.

“It was a bit of a slow, nervy start to get us off [but] I think Roman lifted his level, and the first set was a battle,” de Minaur said.

“I found a way through that first set, then all of a sudden, I was able to kind of free up and take it on to kind of that next level, next gear, which I have been playing in practice. I played a really confident second and third set, which I was really proud of.

“I was happy with the way I was moving. I got a couple of slides in, which always I feel is quite important, getting that footing and footwork on the grass court. I’m looking forward to the next one.”

De Minaur boldly declared pre-tournament that he wanted to break new ground at this year’s Wimbledon, and hoped to end the event with a top-five ranking for the first time. Shelton’s opening-round exit means de Minaur sits fifth in the live rankings.

He made the quarter-finals at the All England club two years ago, when a hip injury infamously caused him to hand Novak Djokovic a walkover, then faced the super Serb again in the round of 16 last year.

De Minaur led Djokovic 4-1 in the fourth set on centre court that day as he tried to force a fifth set, but agonisingly dropped the next five games – and the match.

“I’m always excited when it comes to this slam. I’ve always felt like my game makes sense on the grass. I’ve played well here in the past,” he said.

“There’s been some opportunities that maybe I haven’t taken. There’s been some years when I wasn’t able to step on court for a quarter-final. Last year, I probably had some chances to get through Novak in the fourth round. Who knows what could happen?

“I do feel good playing here … it probably is my best shot at going really deep at a slam, so I’m going to do my best to try to give me that shot.”

Fifth-seeded de Minaur next faces a rematch of his s’Hertogenbosch semi-final from a few weeks ago against wily French veteran Adrian Mannarino, who easily dispatched his countryman Titouan Droguet, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.

Mannarino, 38, managed only four games against de Minaur at s’Hertogenbosch, but is a former top-20 player who saves his best tennis for the grass.

Burruchaga’s father Jorge scored the winning goal for Argentina in the 1986 World Cup final, and he is starting to make his own name, breaking into the top 100 for the first time this year to earn his Wimbledon debut.

But that lack of experience mattered little as he snatched an unexpected 3-0 lead over de Minaur, one of the world’s best grasscourters.

De Minaur predictably worked his way into the match, breaking back in the fifth game, but found Burruchaga a difficult nut to crack.

The Argentine displayed decent-enough court craft and was not afraid to venture to the net, where he made some competent volleys, particularly in the opening set. But Burruchaga struggled there the longer the match went, winning only nine of 24 points compared to de Minaur’s 25 of 30.

De Minaur enjoyed some luck with a ball off the net post early in the tiebreak, but still went a mini-break down, only for Burruchaga to commit consecutive errors, including a double fault to give the Australian the edge.

De Minaur clinched the set on his second chance, when Burruchaga dragged a crosscourt backhand wide. But the underdog remained a pesky proposition in the early going of the second set.

De Minaur ground out a tough hold to go 1-0 up, then had to stave off four break points two games later, including two in a row at 15-40.

Burruchaga wagged his finger after bringing up the fourth of them, but his celebrations were short-lived. De Minaur wriggled out of trouble, and did not concede another game for the contest as he booked a second-round spot for the fifth straight year.

It wasn’t all good news for de Minaur, whose fiancee Katie Boulter suffered a surprise 6-4, 6-2 loss to Italian qualifier Tyra Caterina Grant.

“It’s tough,” Boulter said, fighting back tears. “I can assure you it’s going to be the best day of my life in a while [when I get married]. Not today.”

Fellow Australians Talia Gibson, Rinky Hijikata and Thanasi Kokkinakis also tasted heartbreaking defeats, each losing deciding sets.

Gibson lost 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 to 21st-seeded Czech Marie Bouzkova; Dutchman Jesper de Jong ousted Hijikata 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in a match that started on Monday; and Kokkinakis went down 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (10-12), 6-3, 6-4 to 10th-seeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik.

However, Kim Birrell won her first-ever match at Wimbledon, overcoming a horror middle set to beat former junior world No.1 Alina Korneeva, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2, while James Duckworth downed Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

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