Alex de Minaur’s act of ‘incredible sportsmanship’ at Australian Open

Lost in the masterclass Alex de Minaur put on show for the Australian Open crowd was a moment of sheer class.

Alex de Minaur could do no wrong on Tuesday night.

The Australian was clinical on his way through to the second round with a 6-1 7-5 6-4 win over Dutchman Botic van der Zandschulp.

If the tennis world didn’t already know it, one classy gesture during the second set showed why many believe there is a halo that sits above the 25-year-old’s head.

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The No. 8 seed was about to serve for the second set on Rod Laver Arena when he noticed an irregularity in the balls he was given.

The Aussie No. 1 noticed a new ball had entered the rotation of balls prematurely — a nice gift for a player about to serve for a two-set lead.

Cameras captured the moment de Minaur walked over to the chair umpire to tell the official about the mix-up.

You can watch the moment in the video player above.

Alex de Minaur's classy act. Photo: Supplied.

It must have been tempting for de Minaur to play on with the ball, which would have boosted his serving speed.

Players always search for the balls that have the least amount of fluff and degradation because of the way newer balls fly through the air quicker with better wind resistance.

“Alex is actually showing some incredible sportsmanship there because he didn’t really have to tell Botic there was a brand new ball there,” Todd Woodbridge said on Channel 9.

John Millman responded: “Not just that, he said he will not serve with this new ball to this game. He’s given it back to the umpire.

“That is incredible sportsmanship because normally as a server you want the ball to be as new as possible.”

The good karma was paid back to the Australian, who showed no strain on his way to closing out the match.

There was, however, one moment where de Minaur must have though himself cruelled when van der Zandschulp pulled off one the greatest ‘tweeners you’ll ever see.

De Minaur could only grin and applaud his opponent after the Dutchman raced to the back of the court and then rocketed a forehand between his legs that sailed across the court as a clean winner.

De Minaur was able to keep smiling throughout the rest of his long night.

After his victory, de Minaur was seen cheering on fiancee Katie Boulter, less than an hour after winning on match point.

Boulter went on to win her match after looking in trouble early.

She closed out her match with Rebecca Marino 6-4 3-6 7-5.

— with foxsports.com.au

Originally published as Alex de Minaur’s act of ‘incredible sportsmanship’ at Australian Open