Australian Open 2025: Alex de Minaur relishes role of underdog against Jannik Sinner

Alex de Minaur is up and about. Suddenly free of the pressure of letting anyone down which makes him a dangerous opponent for Jannik Sinner.

Alex de Minaur after defeating Alex Michelsen to make the Australian Open quarter-finals.

Now we’re talking. Here’s the real Alex de Minaur. Hitting freely. Unencumbered. Whistling while he works. He had the weight of Melbourne Park on his shoulders but now finds himself smack-bang where he desires to be. In the role he relishes. Underdog.

De Minaur’s win/loss record is 0-9 against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. He could care less ahead of Wednesday night’s mouth-watering Australian Open quarter-final.

He’s never seen the world so bright.

“You know, the great thing about tennis is that once you step out on the court, you both start at 0-0, right?” de Minaur says.

“It’s a whole new day, a whole new match, and anything can happen. Sport is unpredictable. That’s exactly the mindset I’m going to have. I’m looking forward to it. That’s the match I want to be playing. Ultimately, if anything, it’s going to be my first match this whole tournament where I’m the underdog and don’t have all the pressure and expectation of having to win. It’s exciting, I’m looking forward to that.”

De Minaur will have to be at his absolute best to beat the Italian reigning champion.

You know, it’s deliciously easy to read de Minaur’s moods. He was bogged down a couple of days ago. Everyone expecting him to win his early rounds. He wasn’t playing his best. It was all rather claustrophobic and inhibiting. He was so carefree and gleeful on Tuesday he might have done cartwheels on to his practice court. You know, he’s done everything he was expected to do. The rest is gravy.

With apologies and salutations to Paul Kelly, how to make gravy? De Minaur must play to win instead of being afraid to lose. There’s a difference. His first four matches at the Open were tinged with the latter. He has to attack from here. Be bold. The stage is set.

There’ll be millions of TV viewers, Rod Laver Arena will be packed and big screens around Melbourne Park will be swarmed upon. Watching tennis on a bean bag has a bit going for it.

De Minaur was super-stressed before beating American Alex Michelsen to reach the Open’s last eight for the first time. Why is he suddenly so up? Because he hasn’t let anybody down.

“I’m super-happy,” he says. “Super-happy to finally break through, to finally get that milestone moment here at the Australian Open. It feels like the slam that kept on slipping away.

World No.1 Jannik Sinner has had the wood on de Minaur Picture: Getty Images

“I felt like I had a little bit of a barrier at the fourth round. I’ve 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.

“Ultimately, I knew 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’ve worked really hard on myself to give myself these opportunities and chances. It hasn’t been overnight. It’s been a long process. It’s a good feeling that I’m showing this consistency.”

Jokingly, he suggested his engagement to England’s Katie Boulter had caused his angst.

“When I’m on the court, and you see me so stressed out, I’m just thinking of the wedding budget,” he said.

“That’s why I’m like, ‘I need to win more money. I need to win more matches.’ Now you know what’s going on inside my head.”

Emotional Newk

John Newcombe will present the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup to the men’s champion on Sunday night. If he passes the silverware to de Minaur? “Oh!,” Newcombe exclaims over a cappuccino at Melbourne Park. “That would be very emotional.”

Newcombe adds: “I first met Alex when he was 12 at Shepparton in country Victoria. He was one of eight juniors Rochey (Tony Roche) and I went to hit with for a day. Years later, I watched him win a match at the Wimbledon juniors from a set and a break down. I waited for him outside the court and said ‘G’day, Alex. John Newcombe. Well done, mate. Well played.’

“A few more years later at the Newcombe Medal, I said hi again. He was in his early years on the tour and coming good. I said: ‘Mate, you’ve really improved your volleys.’ He said: ‘You don’t remember the first time we met, do you? I was at that clinic you and Rochey did at Shepparton. You told all of us at the end of the day ‘There’s not one of you kids who knows how to bloody volley’.”

John Newcombe says it will be emotional if he has the chance to hand over the winners’ trophy to de Minaur Picture: Getty Images

Newcombe recalls slapping de Minaur on the shoulder and suggesting he was on the right path. “Alex said to me ‘Yeah, but I’ve got a long way to go’,” Newcombe says.

“I thought that was a pretty interesting reply. He wasn’t remotely full of himself. I looked at him and thought ‘Whatever your ability is, you’re going to maximise it as the years go by’. That’s exactly what he’s doing. I would say he’ll peak at the age of about 28 or 29. Winning a major isn’t beyond him.”

This year? “I wouldn’t count him out,” Newcombe says. “But I can’t count him in. That might be a bit of an overreach but he’s a pretty good player, still in the draw.”

Rejuvenated

Birds flyin’ high, you know how the rejuvenated de Minaur feels. Sun in the sky, breeze driftin’ on by, you know how he feels before he chases his first triumph over Sinner, the defending champion who’s vulnerable while fighting an undisclosed illness that put him at risk of fainting and/or retiring in the fourth round. It’s not just that de Minaur has not won a match against Sinner. He hasn’t won a set since 2020.

The gravy won’t come easily. He needs to play the match of his life. To steal more lines from Kelly, de Minaur needs the sporting equivalent of flour, salt and a little red wine. And don’t forget the dollop of tomato sauce, for sweetness and that extra tang.

“You’ve got to play the next match on face value, forget about … the past,” de Minaur says. “The only thing I want to take from the past is the matches where I felt like I played well and found different areas where I could expose him. I’ll get ready for a battle from the very first point till the last.