Australian Open: Alex De Minaur reaches fourth round, defeating Flavio Cobolli in straight sets

Alex de Minaur has given Australian tennis fans reason to dream of a deep run into the second week of the Australian Open — and says the back end of the tournament is “where I want to be”.

ALEX DE Minaur says he can go to another level in the second week of the Australian Open with plenty of energy left in his tank.

The Australian has enjoyed comfortable straight-set wins in his past two matches over Italians Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi to book a spot in the fourth-round for the third-straight year.

In particular, De Minaur said he felt in control against Cobolli on Friday night, happy that he “had a lot of time” in points and was “the one dictating play” in the victory over the qualifier.

Physically, De Minaur was adamant it was the freshest he had felt at this stage of his home tournament, putting the No. 10 seed in a strong position to rise to the occasion against the more fancied opponents from Sunday.

“This is where I want to be. This is where the tail end of the tournament starts, the second week of slams,” De Minaur said.

“I’ve been told the first week of a slam is to get through however way you want to, and the second week is when you start to play your real tennis.

“Hopefully I can do that. Now the matches are against better-ranked opponents, so I’m looking forward to that.

“I have been playing some great tennis (in recent weeks) and maybe today was not my best level.

Fans take selfies with Australia's Alex De Minaur after his victory against Italy's Flavio Cobolli during their men's singles match on day six of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 19, 2024. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE --

“But I still know I have got that in the bag and hopefully next match I can show that.”

De Minuar said he would be content to play anywhere on Sunday with organisers facing a decision whether to schedule Serb champion and No. 1 seed Djokovic or De Minaur on Rod Laver Arena at night time.

But importantly De Minaur said he had plenty of petrol left to execute his hard-running game which aims to grind down his opponents.

“I probably must be feeling the freshest I have been getting to this stage or the tournament,” he said.

“I got a little bit lucky with Milos pulling out (hurt), so that wasn’t too long.

“Then I played straight sets wins that weren’t too long.

“Physically I’m feeling great. Now it’s just about giving all my energy for what is to come.”

De Minaur has never reached the quarter finals of the Australian Open before but is in the best form of his career.

“I have made a couple of fourth-rounds in the past and not played the match I wanted to but I’m hoping to break that barrier and go one further,” he said.

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Alex de Minaur is one win away from his best ever Australian Open result after dispatching Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli to reach the fourth round.

De Minaur’s comfortable run through his home tournament continued on Friday night when the No. 10 seed and last remaining Australian men’s singles hope demolished Cobolli 6-3 6-3 6-1.

But the assignment is certain to be much tougher on Sunday when he meets the winner of No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev and Sebastian Korda (29).

If De Minuar is to win through to the quarter finals and stay alive in the second week for the first time at Melbourne Park, it will be reliant on his incredible court coverage and the relentless pressure of his suffocating ground strokes.

And the Sydney-sider on Friday night said he felt his game was in great shape after cruising past Cobolli, following wins over Milos Raonic (retired) and Matteo Arnaldi.

“It feels a bit different this time, maybe, like we’re getting to the tail end of the tournament and the matches are definitely going to be very tough,” De Minaur said on Channel 9.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’ve played some great tennis, started the year amazingly and hopefully I can keep it going.

“It’s all going to come down to the level I bring the following match.

“I’ve got to back myself up, I’ve got to believe, got to play positive tennis. I know the whole crowd is going to be behind me and am going to enjoy every second of it.”

Unlike some of the other top-10 ranked players De Minuar, 24, doesn’t have the booming serve.

But the Australian showed he still has some major weapons brushing aside Cobolli in straight sets, unleashing some punishing winners on the run and a brilliant back-hand cross-court chip in the first set to gain the ascendancy early.

Australian great and Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt labelled the Australian’s crushing win near “perfect” aside from his first serving percentage in the third set which dipped down to 63 per cent despite still taking out the victory easily.

Alex de Minaur is through to the fourth round in Melbourne again. Picture: Mark Stewart

But it is what De Minuaur does on the other side of the net to wear down his opponents that is his trademark and continues to fuel his run to a single-figure world ranking.

And there is clearly plenty left in his tank after an easy night at the office at John Cain Arena in cool conditions, triumphing in two hours and seven minutes.

The few times Cobolli looked like causing a scare by creating a break point opportunity he was met with a swift response from De Minaur in the second set, ensuring the 21-year-old Italian was unable to generate any serious momentum in the match.

While the challenge will become much steeper from here for De Minuar, it is his searing speed, ability to break serve and defensive attributes which will form the backbone of his quest to go deep in Melbourne.

He has reached the fourth-round in each of the past two years at the Australian Open.

But De Minaur is verging on career-best form after rattling off three wins against top-10 opponents in recent weeks, toppling Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev in the lead-up to the slam.

Aussie fans are riding the de Minaur wave. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

The most testing moment of his three-set win over Cobolli on Friday night came early in the second set when De Minaur finally capitalised on his ninth break point opportunity in the third game which lasted more than 15 minutes.

And he raced through the third set with American great John McEnroe saying De Minuar was “seeing the ball well now”, and “dominating Cobolli”.

De Minaur will again try to blunt his opponent’s serve in the round of 16 in a bid to ground down either Rublev, who De Minuar has beaten in three of his past five encounters, or Korda, who he has split his past two matches against.

Originally published as Australian Open: Alex De Minaur reaches fourth round, defeating Flavio Cobolli in straight sets