Minaur beats Sousa in straight sets in round 1 of Australian Open

Melbourne, Jan 14: Alex de Minaur stormed into the second round of the Australian Open, defeating Portugal's Pedro Sousa in straight sets in front of a cheering home crowd at Melbourne's Margaret Court Arena here on Monday.

The 27th-seeded Australian teen beat 30-year-old Sousa 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, to continue his recent good form, having won his maiden ATP title at the Sydney International a couple of days ago, reports Efe news.

"I thought I had to be really tough today, and to back it up from Sydney, I'm proud that I was able to get it done in three sets," he said.

He attributed his good performance to improved fitness and thanked his team, especially fitness coach Tom Couch, for working hard on him.

"We did a lot of running, bike, boxing - which I'm not very good at - swimming. I'm glad it's paying off and I'm really happy with my team and the work we've put in," he said.

In the second round, de Minaur will face Henri Laaksonen, who had downed Mirza Basic 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.