Australian Open 2025 Day 11: Jannik Sinner beats Alex de Minaur for place in semi-finals

Alex de Minaur’s Australian Open is over after being blown off Rod Laver Arena by defending champion Jannik Sinner, who claimed his 10th-straight victory over the top Aussie.

The long wait for a homegrown male winner of the Australian Open will now stretch to at least half a century. De Minaur tried hard, as he always does, but he just didn’t have the weapons in his arsenal to seriously threaten Sinner, who cruised to a 6-3 6-2 6-1 victory at a subdued Rod Laver Arena.

It has already been 49 years since Mark Edmondson’s last victory at Melbourne in 1976.

At best, the drought will extend to 50 years after Alex de Minaur crashed out in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night.

Brave, but horribly outclassed, de Minaur was no match for Italy’s Jannik Sinner, the defending champion and current world No. 1.

Recap all of Wednesday’s live action from Melbourne Park below

Sinner dismissed reports he was suffering from pneumonia after destroying de Minaur to keep his title defence alive.

Everyone who saw the Italian destroy de Minuar already had a hunch Sinner was in good fettle but that didn’t stop him from getting quizzed about his health after the match.

For hours before his match started, rumours were swirling around Melbourne Park that Sinner was ill and on the verge of pulling out.

There was even an unsourced report that he might have pneumonia after started shaking and called for a medical timeout in his quarterfinal match with Holger Rune that was played in scorching heat.

The 23-year-old said he had felt unwell in that match but it was nothing serious and he recovered quickly.

“After the match against Holger we made some blood tests. They were all solid, all good.” he said.

“Sometimes it can happen that you just feel not that well. I woke up feeling much, much better. I told my team straight away that I’m feeling good.

“I’m still not perfect but I’m not concerned. In a couple of days, I should be fine.

“When I went on court, I felt great. I felt good with the pressure and everything. With the adrenaline, it helps a lot.

“I was feeling everything, when you break quite early in each set it’s a little bit easier but Alex de Minaur is a very tough competitor.

“He’s an amazing player and I know so many guys came for him tonight but thank you so much for being so fair, it was an amazing atmosphere.

“We know each other quite well now, we played last year so many times and we try to understand each other’s game and try and prepare each other in the best possible way.

“But these kinds of matches can go quickly but they can also change very fast if I go down a level a little bit, he takes opportunities, so I’m very happy about my performance.”

Being considered a nice guy is all fine, but it doesn’t count for anything in the brutal world of professional tennis.

Sinner left the Aussie without answers. Picture: Michael Klein

The expectation for de Minaur to do something special was real but he wasn’t able to.

As fit and thin as a greyhound, Sinner was just far too good for the Australian, overpowering him with his superior athleticism and mental toughness.

For Australia’s long-suffering tennis fans, it was like watching the exorcist.

This was as bad a beating as any Aussie has suffered in a big match on Melbourne’s Park centre court.

De Minaur is one of the most likeable players in the game, but the ‘Demon” was little more than roadkill to Sinner, one of the most ruthless and determined players in the game.

Rumours that Sinner was seriously ill proved unfounded. While he wasn’t 100%, Sinner said he was saving his energy for his matches.

“Talking generally about physical when you are young you recover very fast, so it’s a bit different and some days I really like to sleep and trying to rest in the best possible way.

“I’m not doing too many things at the moment, just trying to rest and recover and trying to be ready for the court.”

Already a double grand slam winner, Sinner is no one’s idea of a Saint but it won’t be a surprise if the Italian wins his second Australian Open on Sunday because he’s really that good.

That’s perhaps the only consolation de Minaur can take from his cruel defeat.

Not many players could have gone toe to toe with Sinner, but it was especially heartbreaking for de Minaur, who had made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open for the first time in eight appearances.

The Italian’s Aus Open defence is still alive. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Ranked eighth in the world, de Minaur is a skilful player with a massive heart who had high hopes but all of a sudden he looks as far away from the top as he ever was.

At 25, he will need to find something more if he ever wants to win a grand slam. He’s played Sinner 10 times and lost every match, winning just one solitary set, but this was by far the most painful because the stakes were so high.

Just the sixth Aussie since 1988 to make the quarterfinals, he’s come up short again. And the wait could go on a lot longer, while Sinner advances to the semi-finals, against American Ben Shelton, with the winner to play either Novak Djokovic or Alexander Zverev.

Sinner said he was expecting a torrid encounter with the big serving Shelton.

“Last year we played some very tough matches,” Sinner said.

“Obviously he’s one of the best servers on tour, he’s a lefty and all different rotations on the ball is coming.

“Hopefully I’m ready and I can return as many serves as possible, and then trying to stay very concentrated about my game like today and staying aggressive. We will see.”

Originally published as Australian Open 2025 Day 11: Jannik Sinner beats Alex de Minaur for place in semi-finals