Mission accomplished for Alex de Minaur. The Australian ace reached the quarterfinals at the 2025 Australian Open and is playing really brilliant tennis at the start of the season, which leads his fans to dream of a great result in the first Grand Slam of the new season.
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After defeating the young American Alex Michelsen in the round of 16, the Aussie talent will need a real feat to reach the semifinals. His next opponent at Melbourne Park will be world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who has always defeated him on the professional tour.
The truth is Alex's game does not create particular problems for the Italian champion, who has more power from the baseline and has become much more complete thanks to the progress made in recent months. The 2-time Grand Slam champion had an illness during his last match against Holger Rune, but he reacted with great determination and prevailed in four sets.
De Minaur asks for the support of his fans
Sinner and de Minaur faced each other twice in the latter part of the 2024 season, respectively at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. Despite playing with great courage, the Australian player was defeated in both cases without winning a single set.
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This surface enhances the game of the world number 1 and it will take a real miracle for Alex to qualify for the next round.
Interviewed by Jim Courier after his round of 16 match, the local idol admitted how tough the next challenge against Jannik will be: "Yeah, I did. It was an interesting one for sure. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be an incredibly tough match. I'm going to have to do something that I haven't done before, but why not start here.
Not only has the Australian never defeated his next opponent, but he snatched just one set from him in their entire rivalry almost five years ago.
