Alex de Minaur crashes back to earth as Aussie faces losing important spot for US Open.

The highest-ranked Aussie star is facing a brutal wait ahead of the US Open.

Aussie tennis star Alex de Minaur is facing the prospect of dropping out of the top eight in the rankings ahead of the US Open after a shock defeat to Reilly Opelka at the Cincinnati Open. De Minaur was heading into the tournament in stellar form having only lost to Ben Shelton on hard court since the start of his North American campaign.

However, the Aussie has succumbed to his second-straight defeat having lost 7-6 6-4 to big-serving American Opelka in his first match at the Cincinnati Open. Opelka hadn’t beaten de Minaur in five-straight matches, but the American won 76 per cent of his first serves with the Aussie unable to convert his limited break point opportunities.

Unfortunately for de Minaur, his two consecutive defeats place him in danger of dropping down from his World No.8 position. Holger Rune, Lorenzo Musetti or Andrey Rublev all have the opportunity to overtake de Minaur if they go deep into the tournament.

This would come as a huge blow for de Minaur with the Aussie working his way back into the top eight, which is a favourable position for grand slams. At this stage, de Minaur wouldn’t face any player seeded higher than him until the quarter-final of the US Open.

Although if he drops down in the rankings after losing to Opelka, de Minaur opens himself up to facing the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and even in-from star Shelton earlier in the tournament.

De Minaur has struggled against some of the world’s best in recent times having never beaten Sinner in 10 attempts. The 26-year-old Aussie has also never defeated Alcaraz in his four attempts, while he has the single victory over Djokovic with a 3-1 losing record. The Aussie most recently went down to Djokovic in a four-set battle at Wimbledon to emphasise his struggles against the top few players in the world.

The Aussie won’t play another singles match ahead of his US Open campaign, but could take part in the new US Open mixed doubles tournament. De Minaur and fiancee Katie Boulter are hoping to earn one of the final two wildcard places to take part in the 16 team tournament.