Seeded stars end Aussie hopes as De Minaur, Hunter stand tall on ...

Day 4 brought about the end of three Aussie men at the Australian Open as Alex De Minaur advanced to the third round.

The no.10 seed made light work of Matteo Arnaldi - 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 - to move through to the next stage where he will meet another Italian in Flavio Cobolli on Saturday.

After getting past Milos Raonic in a walkover as well as his straight sets victory over Arnaldi, the 24-year-old De Minaur admits he hasn’t been at his best but is planning to step his game up as he progresses through the tournament.

“I think so far I’ve done what I’ve needed to do to win matches, it hasn’t been the prettiest of levels or my best level … I do think I’ve got a lot more to show,” he said post-match.

“I’ve learnt that the first week is all about getting through. It might not be your best tennis, but if you get through the first week, you give yourself a chance in the second week to show what you’re made of, and that’s where the best tennis is being played.

“I do think I’ve got more to give, and I really, really would like to show what I’m capable of.”

De Minaur saw a trio of compatriots bow out on Wednesday with Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin and Christopher O’Connell all going under in their second round matches.

Thompson took the first set off no.7 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas before he was beaten in four, Popyrin won the second set against world no.1 Novak Djokovic but would also go down in four and O’Connell won the third set against no.16 seed Ben Shelton to succumb in four sets as well.

Tsitsipas meets Frenchman Luca Van Assche in the third round, while 10-time Aus Open champ Djokovic will play Argentine Tomas Etcheverry, both on Saturday.

In the women’s draw, Storm Hunter won her way through to the next phase by taking care of German Laura Siegemund on three sets.

The world’s no.1 women’s doubles player says she has been placing more importance on her singles career in recent times.

“I’ve done a really good job to get myself to no.1 in the world in doubles and I don’t want to give that up too easily,” said Hunter.

“But I’m definitely not young anymore, I’m not planning on playing forever.

“While my body is feeling good, I do want to give singles a good crack ... so I’m going to have to sacrifice some doubles here and there.”

Hunter, 29, will next play no.9 seed Barbora Krejcikova on Friday.

Australians in action on Thursday (Day 5):

Men’s singles:Max Purcell v Casper Ruud (11)Thanasi Kokkinakis v Grigor Dmitrov (13)

Women’s singles:Ajla Tomljanovic v Jelena Ostapenko (11)