Alex de Minaur now knows who he will play in his first match since his disappointing Wimbledon.
De Minaur was left dejected after losing to Flavio Cobolli in the fourth round at Wimbledon this year.
Since then, the Australian has got married to WTA player Katie Boulter, and he will now make his return to the ATP Tour at the Washington Open, where De Minaur is the defending champion.
De Minaur knows what it takes to win the title in the US capital, but he has a big obstacle to overcome if he is to do so again.
Alex de Minaur will play Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opening match at the Washington Open
De Minaur has been confirmed to play against two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of the Washington Open this year.
There are currently 46 places between De Minaur and Tsitsipas in the rankings, but the latter has recently started to find form again.
Tsitsipas has just won his first title in 16 months at the Swiss Open, and appears to be starting to rediscover some form ahead of the US Open this year.
De Minaur has also previously struggled when playing against Tsitsipas, having lost 12 of his 13 previous meetings against the Greek.
This includes a meeting at the Miami Open earlier this year, where Tsitsipas beat De Minaur 6-3, 7-6(3) to extend his dominant lead over the Australian in the head-to-head.
| Year | Tournament | Result |
| 2018 | Japan Open (R16) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6-3 5-7 6-1 |
| 2018 | Next Gen ATP Finals (F) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 2-4 4-1 4-3(3) 4-3(3) |
| 2019 | Paris Masters (R16) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6-3 6-4 |
| 2021 | ATP Cup (RR) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6-3 7-5 |
| 2021 | Barcelona Open (R16) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 7-5 6-3 |
| 2021 | Indian Wells (R16) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6(3)-7 7-6(3) 6-2 |
| 2022 | Rotterdam Open (QF) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6-4 6-4 |
| 2022 | Miami Open (R32) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6-4 6-3 |
| 2023 | Barcelona Open (QF) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6-4 6-3 |
| 2023 | Los Cabos Open (F) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6-3 6-4 |
| 2024 | Mexican Open (QF) | De Minaur beat Tsitsipas, 1-6 6-3 6-3 |
| 2024 | Italian Open (R16) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6-1 6-2 |
| 2026 | Miami Open (R64) | Tsitsipas beat De Minaur, 6-3 7-6(3) |
If De Minaur is able to overcome his head-to-head against Tsitsipas, he knows that he will play against a qualifier in the second round.
Some of the other potential threats to De Minaur defending his Washington Open title include Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Jakub Mensik.
Alex de Minaur could suffer ranking drop after the Washington Open
Despite his recent difficulties, De Minaur is currently at his career-high ranking of world number five.
This may change after the Washington Open, where De Minaur is defending 450 ranking points.
De Minaur is already confirmed to be dropping below Novak Djokovic, and he could fall even further.
If he loses to Tsitsipas once again, De Minaur could also be overtaken by both Shelton and Fritz this week.
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This would cause De Minaur to slip down to world number eight, as he looks to maintain a top eight seeding for the US Open this year.
The main draw of the 2026 Washington Open starts on Monday, July 27, as De Minaur looks to defend his title in Washington D.C.
