Alex de Minaur confirmed his place in the second round of the Washington Open by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.

The Australian had a wretched head-to-head record against Tsitsipas coming into the event, losing 12 of his 13 matches against the former world No 3.

Nevertheless, de Minaur was able to win the match in three sets to set up a generational clash with compatriot, Cruz Hewitt.

The Australian can count himself unlucky to draw a player of Tsitsipas’ calibre in round one, although that is the fallout of a brand-new system introduced by the Washington Open this year.

The draw has been changed from a 48-man field to a 32-man field, meaning there were several blockbuster matches in round one.

Speaking after claiming his victory at the Washington Open, de Minaur was asked his opinion on the brand-new change to the ATP 500 event.

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“Yeah, look, I think for the tournament, for the spectators, for the viewers, it’s obviously better, right? Because you’re going to get stacked draws, you’re going to get potential first round clashes that are brutal and so I think it’s it’s a good thing, right?” said de Minaur.

“I think it helps everyone on board. Obviously for me, I had to make sure that I was ready from the get-go and managed to kind of get through a very tough match and hopefully I can build that confidence into the next match.”

De Minaur can expect the difficult tests to come if he can get past Hewitt, who is the son of legendary Grand Slam champion Lleyton.

The world No 5’s most likely opponent in the quarter final looks to be Jakub Mensik, while Taylor Fritz could be waiting in the final four of the tournament.

Ben Shelton looks to be de Minaur’s most likely final opponent at present, so the Australian will certainly have to work to defend his Washington title.

The star claimed the title last year by defeating the likes of Brandon Nakashima, Corentin Moutet, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, so it would be a marked step up in quality.

Nevertheless, these are the sort of tournaments de Minaur has made a name for himself by winning. Four of de Minaur’s 11 titles have come at ATP 500 level, including the Washington Open, the Rotterdam Open, and the Mexican Open.

He will also need to win the Washington Open this year to keep hold of his place inside the ATP Tour top 5, due to the amount of points he is defending from winning the event last term.