Alex de Minaur has all the answers – except one

Alex de Minaur had a tough opponent. Annihilated him. He’s through to the third round of the Australian Open while barely raising a sweat – except when one curly question came his way.

Alex de Minaur stretches for a backhand in his second round singles win over Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi. Picture: Getty Images

Alex de Minaur skipped onto Rod Laver Arena with four water bottles and three pairs of shoes. Expecting thirsty work. To burn some rubber. Italian Matteo Arnaldi had more strut than John Travolta in Grease but de Minaur annihilated him thanks to the perfect execution of a fearless and uncomplicated game plan.

Wait for the short ball. Rip into it. Leap into a flat approach and charge to the net like you’ve stolen something. Knock off the volley. Time and again this happened. Short ball. Rip. He swung out of his shoes and bolted forth, punching the volley for a winner, thanks for coming. He was opportunistic and effective. At his hustling, bustling best in an incredibly impressive 6-3 6-0 6-3 win that sent him cartwheeling into the third round of the Australian Open as Lleyton Hewitt shouted from his courtside box: “Great stuff, Demon!”

If a boxing kangaroo was a tennis player, he’d be de Minaur. Up for the fight. Relentless. He was too quick, too shred, too cool, too calm, too collected, too clear in his intentions, too bloody good. Great stuff, Demon. Short ball. Pounce. Short ball. Take it early and pounce. Over and again. His shoes received a decent workout but he didn’t need all his water bottles. Barely raised a sweat.

“Nothing can give you more belief than winning matches, and especially good matches, and I think that’s what I’ve gotten,” de Minaur said ahead of Friday’s third-round clash with Pavel Kotov or Flavio Cobolli.

“I feel in a good position where maybe I know if I don’t bring my A-game, I’ve still got plenty to show. I’ve won enough matches this year to kind of know how to win certain types of matches. I’ve come to terms with not having to play perfect tennis out there but just do enough to get the job done. But I’m playing probably my best tennis. I’m feeling great mentally and physically. I was going in ready for a battle. I’ll happily take that result.”

De Minaur’s post-match celebrations were muted. Just a quiet fist pump and perhaps a nod and a wink to Hewitt. He’s won two matches. Needs to win five to claim the Open. He’s plying his trade with an authoritative air. You cannot act like a top-10 player unless you’re a top-10 player. As of this week, he’s a top-10 player.

Alex de Minaur celebrates. Picture: Getty Images

Hewitt gave his mate an eight out of 10. Asked to mark himself, de Minaur replied: “In a way I’m always going to be my harshest critic, right? That’s never going to change. Doesn’t matter where I am in the world or what I’m doing. I’ve got more to give and I really, really would like to show what I’m capable of. So far I’ve done what I needed to do to win the matches. It hasn’t been probably the prettiest of levels or my best level. I’ve played two opponents where maybe I haven’t been allowed to be as aggressive as I would like because they have a lot of firepower. But I do think I have a lot more to show.”

De Minaur gripped, ripped and pounced on 11 consecutive games before taking his foot off Arnaldi’s throat in the third set. He settled and steadied and stuck to the uncomplicated, opportunistic mode of counter-attack as a smattering of banners displaying real boxing kangaroos nodded their approval.

“Something that I’m very proud of is my willingness to try and win every single point,” de Minaur said.

“No matter what the scoreline is, I’m constantly drilling myself that I need to win the next point and I need to win the next point … I’m a little bit disappointed in myself for losing focus in the third set there. But it was a pretty good level throughout the whole match.

“I had a little stint where I lost my focus and got broken in the third set and made things a little bit more complicated than I probably should have. The match was a lot tougher than the scoreline showed. It got tricky at the end and I’m happy to come through.”

Only one thing stopped de Minaur in his tracks. The issue of whether Germany’s Alexander Zverev should remain on the ATP Player Council before he fronts court in Berlin on charges of domestic abuse.

Asked for his take, that’s when he broke into a sweat. He looked ready to guzzle water from all three bottles. Burned rubber to get out of there after replying: “Well, my take is that I’m good at playing tennis and I’m not good at making political decisions. Going to stay out of it and, yeah, focus on playing tennis.”