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It was the No.6 seed's fourth victory over the Italian, who has yet to beat De Minaur. Despite forcing an early break in this one, Sonego simply couldn't handle De Minaur's ability to settle and fire back for a comprehensive victory.

De Minaur has already reached the semi-finals on clay in Monte-Carlo and the quarter-finals in Barcelona, and will be hoping of more progress here, with Canada's Denis Shapovalov waiting for him in the next round.

“I was broken in the first game, everything came pretty quickly. But I was very happy with how I settled mentally and how I was able to bounce straight back,” De Minaur said.

“I ended up playing some great tennis.”