I’m very happy to have finally reached the quarter-finals (at the Australian Open). Now let’s aim even bigger!
“There’s nothing I want more than to play well here in Australia,” the Sydney native said in the on-court interview. “I am very happy to have finally reached the quarter-finals. Now let’s aim even bigger! »
If he lost 6-4, 6-1 against Michelsen on the hard court of Los Cabos in 2023, De Minaur then inflicted on him a 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 on the clay court of the gate d’Auteuil last year. Within the Rod Laver Arena, the affair started on the same basis.
De Minaur first stifled a Michelsen…
Suffocating his opponent with his early ball holds while striving to move him to exploit his weaknesses in this area, “ADM” quickly led 6-0, 2-0 and double break point. Then, despite two new opportunities, at 3-1, to widen this gap, he suffered the rise of the American.
Broken when serving to lead two sets to zero, De Minaur, put in more difficulty by the striking power of Michelsen seeking to accelerate as soon as possible in good conditions, avoided a big thorn in the side by winning the tie-break.
…who let go more from the middle of the second set
At 5-3 against him without a mini-break behind, he scored three consecutive points. “The second set was very important,” he analyzed. “I had opportunities, I tried not to let him come back into the game, but he raised his level. »
-Enough to undermine the confidence of his opponent, who notably took out Stéfanos Tsitsipás in four sets, and Karen Khachanov without losing a single set to improve his best result in a Major, which was a third round lost last year against Alexander Zverev in Melbourne.
De Minaur 0 – 9 sinners
During the last round, the nicknamed “Demon” only had one alert: a break point to be dismissed while he was serving to win the match.
In the quarter-finals, to continue to “dream bigger” Alex de Minaur, who has only dropped one round since the start of the fortnight – against Francisco Cerúndolo in the previous round – has a meeting with the world number 1, Jannik Sinner. His worst nightmare, from which he never managed to wake up: in eight matches – nine including the Next Gen Masters – the Australian only won one set against the Italian.
The other posters for the round of 16 at the Australian Open (Grand Slam, Melbourne Park, hard, 60,627,573 USD, results displayed from newest to oldest):
- Ben Shelton (N.21) – Gael Monfils: Shelton qualified (7-6 [3]6-7 [3]7-6 [2]1-0 ab.)
- Lorenzo Sonego – Learner Tien (Q): 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
- Jannik Sinner – Holger Rune (N.13) : 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Novak Djokovic (N.7) – Jiri Lehecka (N.24) : 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 [4]
- Alexander Zverev (N.2) – Ugo Humbert (N.14) : 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Carlos Alcaraz (N.3) – Jack Draper (N.15): Alcaraz qualified (7-5, 6-1 ab.)
- Tommy Paul (N.12) – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina: 6-1, 6-1, 6-1
