Alex de Minaur is eyeing sweet revenge after continuing his hot American summer to steam into the US Open second round in New York.
The Australian No.1 carved out a 7-5 6-2 6-3 victory over Serbian Filip Krajinovic in less than two hours to live up to his No.18 seeding status.
The straight-sets victory atoned for a first-round exit last year after previously producing his two best grand slam results at Flushing Meadows.
He was a quarter-finalist in 2020 and reached the last 16 the year before.
Relishing the faster conditions, de Minaur swept past Krajinovic with minimal fuss to book a spicy rematch against his Wimbledon tormentor Cristian Garin.
"Happy to get a win against a tough opponent. I thought I did what I needed to do out there and very happy to be in the second round," de Minaur said.
"Nice, hot, quick, swirly conditions. It wasn't, as I would call it, beautiful tennis but I did exactly what I needed to do.
"At times I expect perfect tennis out of myself. Reality of the sport is that it's not always going to come, so it's about adapting and kind of just being able to accept mistakes.
"That's for me the biggest thing. Just move on and keep fighting and try to win every point out there and staying in the moment.
"Over five sets, it's definitely tough to get through me."
Garin broke de Minaur's heart at the All England Club last month, fighting back from two sets down and saving a match point to deny the Australian a place in the quarter-finals.
The Chilean downed Czech Jiri Lehecka in four sets in his opener on Monday to confirm another showdown with de Minaur.
"Hopefully I can get some revenge," de Minaur said.
The world No.20 arrived at the season's final major full of confidence after snaring his sixth career title four weeks ago in Atlanta, and claiming two more top-25 scalps in Montreal.
"The one thing I would say coming into this match I probably haven't had before is the confidence in myself that I'm very tough to beat over five sets if I'm there competing every single point," de Minaur said.
"Especially in hot conditions, I was ready to play for as long as I needed to. That gave me a bit of confidence."
De Minaur's first projected seeded opponent is Spain's world No.15 and two-time US Open semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta in round three.
© AAP 2022