Alex de Minaur has made an impressive start to his Washington Open campaign, notching a straight-sets victory over China's Bu Yunchaokete.
Playing his first event since his heartbreaking defeat to Novak Djokovic in the fourth round at Wimbledon, the Australian No.1 claimed a morale-boosting 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 win to set up a last-16 clash with Czech Jiri Lehecka.
As seventh seed at the tournament, de Minaur was favourite to see off world No.75 Bu. Now the Australian can take heart from a solid performance at the hardcourt ATP 500 tournament as he builds towards next month's US Open, where last year he reached his third consecutive grand slam quarter-final.
