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Australia's Flushing Meadows fan favourite Alex de Minaur can't wait to face former finalist Kei Nishikori for a place in the second week of the US Open.
Alex de Minaur plans to feed off the US Open's electric crowd in pursuit of a coveted first-time appearance in the second week of a grand slam.
De Minaur earned a shot at seventh-seeded former Open finalist Kei Nishikori with a super impressive 6-3 7-5 6-3 victory over Chilean No.31 seed Cristian Garin on Thursday.
The 20-year-old ball of energy was unfussed about having to play three days in a row after his second-round clash with Garin was suspended one game in on Wednesday because of rain.
"I'm pretty chilled so days like yesterday don't bother me too much," de Minaur said.
"The only bad thing is you've got to do your warm-up 17 times because you think you're going to be on court and all that."
De Minaur has powered into the last 32 for the second successive year.
But the winner of an equal-tour-best two hardcourt titles in 2019 yearns for a much deeper run this time around.
"This is where I want to be. I want to be in contention to just make second weeks of slams," he said.
"That's ultimately my goal."
Nishikori, runner-up to Marin Cilic in 2014 after taking out Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, holds no fears for de Minaur.
"I will go out there and just play fearless. That is when I play my best tennis," he said.
"I can draw a lot of good feelings from last year. I had a very tough (five-set) match against Cilic and I just went out there and took it to him.
"Obviously it was a little bit of a heartbreaker but ultimately that is the way I have to play and that is what you want.
"You want to be playing these top guys at the top of their level. Hopefully I can really come out tomorrow and give it my best crack."
De Minaur's high-octane game has made him a Flushing Meadows fan favourite and he hopes his growing following will help inspire a boilover.
"The support that I get here in New York is amazing. I love playing here," he said.
"New Yorkers, they just love someone who is going to leave it all out there.
"If you can get them on your side, it is almost like playing at home and I feel like every time I have stepped out on court, I have slowly started to grow that sort of fan base or crowd support.
"Now I get to experience it every day, so I am very fortunate and very happy for that."
AUSSIES IN ACTION ON DAY FIVE OF THE US OPEN (SATURDAY AEST):
Women's singles, third round
2-Ashleigh Barty v 30-Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Men's singles, third round
Alex de Minaur v 7-Kei Nishikori (JPN)
