Alex de Minaur is dialled in and has delivered on the expectations of him for this Australian Open after another brilliant performance at Melbourne Park on Sunday night. The challenge now is to raise the bar higher than ever before.
Driven by what Australia’s Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt described as an appetite for revenge, de Minaur unleashed a 6-4 6-1 6-1 demolition on world No.10 Alex Bublik on Rod Laver Arena.
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The Aussie lost a gut-wrenching five-setter to Bublik at Roland Garros last year that left him desolate and was edged in another tight tussle by the “Kazakh Kyrgios” late last year.
Both losses came in Paris. The city of love may be a special place for Bublik, who shed tears after reaching the last eight there in 2025, but the Demon was hard-hearted on Sunday.
“I think he wanted revenge badly. That one really stung in the French Open,” Hewitt, who was courtside in his coaching pod, told the Nine Network deep in the third set.
“He lost a tight match to him in the Masters in Paris … so he wanted to try to turn the tables tonight and so far, so good.”
The Australian star has played at an incredible level in Melbourne to outclass France Tiafoe and then destroy Bublik in his quickest ever win at home, with his match on Sunday night lasting just 1hr 32min.
The challenge ahead of him against world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, who had progressed earlier in the day in style over American Tommy Paul, is arguably the hardest in tennis.
When they meet in an Australian Open quarterfinal on Tuesday night, both men will be seeking new territory on what could be a historic day given a horrible weather forecast, with the temperature predicted to hit 49C in parts of Victoria.
For all the remarkable deeds Alcaraz has accomplished in his career, the quarterfinals in Melbourne have proven a hoodoo for him. The Australian Open is his worst grand slam.
But if he manages to rectify that next week, history awaits, with Alcaraz now three victories away from becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam this fortnight.
For the Demon, opportunities abound in what is his seventh appearance in a grand slam quarterfinal, as difficult as the challenge indisputably is given the superstar who awaits.
In five previous outings he has never beaten Alcaraz, though the clashes between the Spanish-speaking Aussie and the global sensation have generally been tight affairs.
Never would there be a better time to secure a first win than in his second straight grand slam quarterfinal at home as he seeks to reach his first major semi-final.
The Demon is planning to sleep in tomorrow before sourcing a decent coffee. He will hit the court for a light session and then the gym to tick his body over before the planning begins.
Is it Mission Impossible? There will be many who think the task of beating Alcaraz it is a mountain he can’t scale.
“Honestly, it’s not my job to give them optimism, right?” he said.
“My job is to go out there and compete and do that and let me tennis do the talking. What everyone else can decide before the match is their opinions, right? They ultimately can sit on their couch and decide X, Y, Z, right?
“Then after the match is done, they will have whatever else they want to say about the match, but that’s just it. There is nothing I can do to control that. I’m not going to come out here and plead for Australia to believe in me.
“I’m going to go out there. I’m going to compete. I’m going to go after the match. I’m excited for the battle. Ultimately, it’s something that I have never done, but there is always a first time for everything. I’m hoping that will be on Tuesday.”
No player is unbeatable and de Minaur has had his moments against the six-time major champion in outings on grass, clay and indoor hard courts.
Their first clash in a semi-final in Barcelona in 2022 was a three-set thriller. The Spaniard beat him in a tight match on grass at the Queen’s Club a year later.
With the Aussie entrenched in the top 10, they met three times last year, with de Minaur taking a set in a tight final in Rotterdam in February.
At the prestigious ATP Tour Finals in November, the world No.6 had a window in the first set of their semi-final, only for Alcaraz to scorch away in the second set once in control.
What is certain is that de Minaur, an 11-time ATP Tour titleist who has now reached the last eight in seven of the past nine grand slams, has never struck the ball better than he is now.
He was superb against Frances Tiafoe, a dual-US Open semi-final, a couple of nights ago and once he had the upper hand against Bublik, he never ever relented.
“I think the last two matches I have played, I have hit the ball extremely well. I feel like I am doing everything I can on the court and I am excited for the next one,” de Minaur said.
“I am going to have to come out here guns blazing and I am excited for a battle against Carlitos.”
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Bublik felt that he served well against de Minaur, noting he landed his booming serve at about 70 per cent in the final two sets of the one-sided encounter, but from there he started nailing returns no matter what the Kazakh talent threw at him.
Asked about the manner with which the Australian is playing at, Bublik said he is already at an incredible level and that the only higher achievement would be if he manages to win a grand slam.
“It’s tough to say. I guess the next level for someone like Alex would be nearly (to be a) slam winner, so we have to see that with the results of Australian Open and further slams that we have,” he said.
On another encouraging note, the 26-year-old again managed to land more than 60 per cent of his first serves for the second match on occasion, something he must repeat against Alcaraz.
The Aussie also made Bublik play on 61 of the 70 points that he served, which is a phenomenal returning percentage given the power that the 28-year-old possesses.
American legend John McEnroe was full of praise for de Minaur, who is the first Australian man to reach consecutive quarterfinals at Melbourne Park, and noted the swiftness of the match was important.
On paper, de Minaur had a testing path, yet he has been largely untroubled and has been able to move through matches swiftly, which ensures that his legs will be fresh.
“It is incredibly satisfying to beat up on a guy who beat him in Paris and to save those legs for a couple of days when he is going to need them against Mr Alcaraz,” he said.
“It has got to be one of the best matches he has ever played her at this tournament. He should be pumped up. He played outstandingly. Demolition is the perfect word for it. Alex made him look pedestrian (and) this guy is ten in the world.”
No one can make Alcaraz look pedestrian. To see him move around the court and transition from defence to attack in the blink of an eye is one of the treats of the tennis circuit.
And the Sydney-raised Aussie is not discounting how incredible Alcaraz, who has won 88 of the 101 grand slam matches he has played, is in every facet of the game.
But having fresh legs at least gives the Demon a chance to engage with this star rival.
“One hundred per cent. I mean, I’ve got one of the toughest tasks ahead, right? So I’m going to make sure that I bring everything I’ve got,” de Minaur said.
“It does help that I’m feeling quite fresh and it’s going to be a physical battle … because there are many, many things that Carlos does incredibly well on a tennis court and one of them is making the rallies quite physical.
“He’s got the ability to not only … hit the ball incredibly well and try to hit you off the court at times, but also extend rallies. So there could be some gruelling exchanges.
“We both have shown that in the couple of matches that we have played. So this will be the first time playing a Grand Slam match, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come. Hopefully it’s going to be a battle and it’s going to be a long one.”
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There is a wildcard factor. Will a scorcher have an impact on what happens?
The temperature is expected to hit a record-high 49C in Ouyen, a town about an hour from Mildura, where Australia once suffered an ignominious Davis Cup loss to Zimbabwe.
Melbourne’s high is predicted at 43C and even given the city’s reputation for variable weather, it will almost certainly ensure Tennis Australia’s Heat Stress policy is enacted.
There are different metrics at play, but it was enacted on Saturday when the temperature peaked at 38C and Tuesday is expected to be worse.
This would see the quarterfinalist scheduled for Tuesday played indoors, which removes an element that could well have caused issues for both players, as it did for Jannik Sinner.
“I mean, I’m Aussie. I don’t mind the heat. I have said it since day one. That’s just what I have grown up with and I’m ready for these types of conditions,” de Minaur said.
“I assume the roof will be closed. I don’t know for certain, but if the heat rule is into effect, it’s going to make it a little bit of an indoor match. It is what it is. Once I rock up on Tuesday and I walk on court, you just deal with whatever’s in front of you.
“When the roof is open, even at night, there are always some elements, right? There is always, here in Melbourne, a little bit of breeze always from one side. That kind of makes not perfect playing conditions.
“If it’s indoor, then it’s going to be pretty perfect conditions, so that’s ultimately the difference. I had the chance to play with the roof closed when it started raining in my match against Hamad (Medjedovic) and I played at a pretty good level there. I don’t know what to expect, but ultimately I’m excited.”
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