Alex de Minaur through to quarterfinals of the Australian Open

Alex de Minaur is through to the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park for the first time, ending his home Open hoodoo. Finally, Aussies have one of their own to cheer for at the pointy end.

Get ready to rumble, Australia! It’s time for everyone to unleash your inner Demon.

Finally, we have one of our own to cheer for in the business end of the Australian Open.

It has been 10 long years since an Aussie made the quarterfinals of the men’s singles at Melbourne Park but now Alex de Minaur is through to the last eight after crushing American Alex Michelsen 6-0 7-6 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena on Monday night.

The ‘Demon’s’ next opponent is Jannik Sinner, the defending champion and current world No. 1.

The Italian will start as the red hot favourite but don’t count the Aussie out when they lock horns at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.

“I’m looking forward to it,” de Minaur said.

“It’s going to be an incredibly tough match and I’m going to have to do something I haven’t done before, but why not start here!“

Alex de Minaur is through to the quarterfinals. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

Ranked eighth in the world, de Minaur is not only a world-class player, but he’s also a street fighter who won’t ever throw in the towel. Like Ash Barty, he’s an Australian everyone can get behind.

He might have finished his match quickly but Alex de Minaur didn’t wrap up his commitments with the press until after midnight but had enough energy left to explain how relieved and excited he was at finally breaking his Australian Open hoodoo and reach the qurterfinals.

“I’m super happy, super happy to finally breakthrough, finally get that milestone moment here at the Australian Open,” he said.

“It feels like the slam that kept on slipping away where I felt like I had a little bit of a barrier at the fourth round.

“So it feels very good to finally break through another milestone in my career.”

Alex de Minaur after his win on Monday night. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images.

Now that he has made it to the quarterfinals of all four grand slams, de Minaur’s next ambition is obvious: to go to the semis and beyond.

“I have been quite vocal about my ambitions and goals at slams. For way too long I felt like I wasn’t performing in the bigger stages in the bigger tournaments,” he said.

“Ultimately I knew that if I wanted to be a better player and if I wanted to be a top-10 player, these were the tournaments where I had to start performing a whole lot better.

“I have worked really hard on myself to give myself these opportunities and chances. It hasn’t been overnight. It’s been a long process.”

“But I’m glad that I’m showing this consistency, and it’s a good feeling to have, yeah, four back-to-back quarterfinals at slams.”

It’s too early to talk about ending Australia’s long title drought at home - dating back to 1976 - but de Minaur is already in uncharted waters.

He is just the sixth Australian to make the quarters since the tournament moved from Kooyong to Melbourne Park in 1988, joining Pat Cash (1988), Mark Woodforde (1996), Pat Rafter (2001), Lleyton Hewitt (2005) and Nick Kyrgios (2015).

“There is nothing that I want to do more than play well here in Australia,” de Minaur said.

“I’m glad I finally made it to the quarter-finals here, so let’s go for bigger and better things. Come on!“

A consistent performer at the highest level, de Minaur had already made the quarterfinals of the other three grand slams but had stumbled in the fourth round at Australia the last three years on the trot.

But not this time. The most likeable guy in professional tennis, de Minaur advanced safely to the last eight with the wind in his sails, tearing around the court like a man on a mission.

“My whole career has been day-by-day, it hasn’t been overnight,” de Minaur said.

“I’ve had to keep improving every year, in little increments, to get a little bit stronger and bigger.

“I’ve been working on getting more free points on my serve and a little bit more confidence. Consistency always pays off in the end.”

A win that meant more 🫶🇦🇺

The moment Alex de Minaur reached his first AO quarterfinal and his mum Esther couldn’t contain her emotion 🥹#AO2025pic.twitter.com/8riWdzOUVc

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2025

Importantly, with fatigue set to play a big part in the second week, de Minaur has only dropped one set in his four matches so far so has plenty left in the tank for the bigger challenges ahead.

He wasn’t perfect against Michelsen but he didn’t need to be. He raced through the opening set in less than half an hour and was on track to win the second in routine fashion after getting an early break.

He failed to serve out the set, committing a double fault at the worst possible time, but regained his composure to win the tie-breaker, then won the third to seal a famous victory.

Asked whether getting engaged to British No. 1 Katie Boulter was helping stay cool under pressure, de Minaur gave a cheeky reply that the crowd lapped up.

“I don’t believe in coincidences. I think that when you are happy off the court, then you play some good tennis on the court,” he said.

“That second set was pivotal so I’m extremely happy I was able to bounce back after that second set break - it was massive. Let’s keep it going.“

Originally published as Alex de Minaur through to quarterfinals of the Australian Open