Alex de Minaur’s moment of truth has arrived, as he bids to become the sixth Australian man to make the Australian Open quarter-finals since the tournament moved to Melbourne Park. Follow live!
Not since Nick Kyrgios made his lone run to the last eight, joining Lleyton Hewitt (2005), Pat Rafter (2001), Mark Woodforde (1996) and Pat Cash (1988), has an Aussie man had such success at his home slam. But more importantly it would be a long-desired breakthrough for the clearly-improved de Minaur.
Having bulked up and added some much-needed power to his game, de Minaur is no longer just Lleyton Hewitt lite, with pre-Aussie Open wins over Novak Djokovic, Alex Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz (the latter in an exhibition) suggesting he has taken a genuine step forward.
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And having spent just over six hours on court through three rounds, the exhaustion which cruelled his US Open run last year – when he effectively broke down against Daniil Medvedev – should not be a factor either.
De Minaur has become a perennial fourth-round contender, as this is his seventh grand slam appearance in the last 16, but to make a second quarter-final appearance he’ll need to take down Russian No.5 seed Andrey Rublev.
The pair have met five times but crucially de Minaur holds a 3-1 advantage on hard courts, defeating Rublev in Rotterdam last February, but then losing a rematch in Paris in October.
Tonight’s winner will face red-hot No.4 seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals after the Italian continued his brilliant form with a 6-4 7-5 6-3 win over No.15 seed Karen Khachanov.
De Minaur wins again with crowd buzzing! | 01:23
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American great John McEnroe believed the match would be tight, but tipped de Minaur due to the home court advantage.
“I think he is a slight favourite, because of the crowd. I think the crowd’s going to make a big difference in this one, and Rublev’s a little like me. He is a little hot-blooded. When things don’t go quite right he can get feisty out there,” McEnroe said on Nine.
But puzzlingly the broadcaster also put up a graphic spotlighting Demon’s ‘recipe for success’. Being more accurate on the first serve made more sense, likewise hitting more forehands, but ‘win more’ was a seemingly obvious suggestion.
De Minaur earned two break points in the opening game of the match as the wind caused havoc with Rublev’s serve, but the Russian recovered to hold for 1-0.
And he went on to strike first, breaking de Minaur to 15 for a 3-1 advantage.
The Aussie’s speed became a weapon in the ensuing game, getting de Minaur to 0-30, but Rublev won the next four points to hold safely.
de Minaur attempted to change up his tactics to recover and while it didn’t work on one specific point at 4-1, two-time Australian Open champion Jim Courier liked the plan.
“It was the right idea. It just was a little higher than he wanted it to be and he’s playing with the breeze at his back, so you can understand you’re a little cautious trying to play it too low to the net,” Courier said on Nine.
“But that one sat up and it was dealt with severely. That improved down the line backhand looking good. But I like the idea from de Minaur. He’s doing what he needs to do to throw Rublev a little off.”
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NIGHT 8 ORDER OF PLAY – SINGLES 4TH ROUND
All times AEDT
ROD LAVER ARENA
From 7pm: No.10 Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs No.5 Andrey Rublev (RUS)
MARGARET COURT ARENA
No.4 Jannik Sinner (ITA) def No.15 Karen Khachanov (RUS) 6-4 7-5 6-3
JOHN CAIN ARENA
No.12 Taylor Fritz (USA) vs No.7 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 7-6(3) 7-5 6-3
Mirra Andreeva (RUS) vs No.9 Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)
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