Forget his patchy form, Alex de Minaur earnestly believes he can seriously contend for US Open glory.
Australia's world No.7 has all but wiped the slate clean ahead of what he considers the most open Open in years due to Jannik Sinner's withdrawal and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz's unpredictable return from a four-month injury lay-off.
"I feel like it's been a couple of months now where there's been a lot of uncertainties with the top players injured or not playing," de Minaur said ahead of his first-round stoush with Italian qualifier Andrea Guerrieri.