Australian Open: Alex de Minaur makes near-perfect start to Melbourne Park campaign

Trophies aren’t won in the first week at Melbourne Park, but Alex de Minaur couldn’t have asked for a better start, even if he was on the wrong end of one of the greatest tennis highlights ever.

It is still early days but Australian tennis fans can start believing they have someone actually capable of making a deep run after Alex de Minaur made a near perfect start to his Australian Open campaign.

No-one wins any silverware in the first week of a grand slam but de Minaur did the next best thing, avoiding any early slip ups in an impressive first outing on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday night.

Playing against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, de Minaur ticked off all the boxes as he romped to a comprehensive 6-1 7-5 6-4 centre court thumping.

“Nights like tonight is what you dream of, going, playing prime time on RLA,” de Minaur said.

“It’s special, man. Going out there, everyone has your back, getting you fired up. It’s a great feeling to go out there, play some good tennis, and get the win.”

No slouch with the racket, the Dutchman gave a decent account of himself, breaking de Minaur’s serve in the second set when the Aussie double faulted and pulling off a spectacular ‘tweener’ that was one of the shots of the opening round.

But when push came to shove, he came up short as he was unable to cope with de Minaur’s superior power, pace and fitness.

The Demon started hot in Melbourne. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

“The body is exactly where I wanted it to be, right where I put in countless hours over the better part of six months to get to this point and be feeling good, feeling comfortable, moving, sliding from one side to the other,” de Minaur said.

“So that’s obviously an incredible positive. Now I’ve got to see how the body pulls up from this type of physical tennis, but it should be all right. We move on to the next match.

“It was an ideal start. Came out of the blocks exactly the way I wanted to, brought the intensity, energy, tactically played the right way, was solid but aggressive. Serve was firing.

“I was very solid and came out of the blocks exactly the way I wanted to. Obviously I applied a lot of pressure on him. I think as the match went on, the conditions got a little bit slower and heavier, which made the match a little bit tougher, and it changed the momentum a little bit of that match.”

No Australian man has made the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park since Nick Kyrgios a decade ago.

The constant reminder that you don’t have to swear and carry on like a pork chop to get attention, de Minaur could well end the drought this year. He has come mighty close before, reaching the fourth round in each of the past three seasons, but things feel different this time.

For starters, he’s seeded eighth so gets the benefits that come with being a top-10 player. His next opponent is American qualifier Tristan Boyer and only one player in his section of the draw is ranked higher than him, albeit the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

One of the nicest guys in the sport, de Minaur’s disarming strength is that he can wipe his opponents off the court without throwing tantrums or smashing racquets or picking fights with the chair umpires.

de Minaur faces Tristan Boyer in the next round. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

But that doesn’t mean ‘The Demon’ is dull. With Lleyton Hewitt in his corner, and recently engaged to British tennis player Katie Boulter at the end of 2024, he’s under more pressure than any other Aussie at the tournament but is lapping it up.

“There is always going to be pressure. Ultimately, as I said many times before, no one is going to put more pressure on myself than myself, right?” he said.

“There’s always going to be outside noise, and that’s always going to be in the background, but ultimately, I go in every day with a mindset and focusing on trying to bring out the best version of myself.

“When it comes to playing these types of matches or playing in Australia, my sole focus is to give myself the best chance when I walk on court, right, and do everything I can.

“And then we know how tennis is. Tennis, can you have some good days, you can have some bad days. Ultimately, if I have my bad day, I’m going to find till the end, compete, and I’m going to do my best.

“I know that the crowd is going to have my back from the very first point to the last. Yeah, it’s perspective, right? It’s what way you choose to look at pressure.”