Australian Open Day 7: Alex de Minaur wins third-round clash against Francisco Cerundolo
Alex de Minaur is through to the fourth round for the fourth year in a row, but he has revealed the pressure and expectation of being Australia’s last man standing almost suffocated him.
Alex de Minaur has revealed the pressure and expectation of being Australia’s last man standing almost suffocated him during his third-round victory.
The No.8 seed had what he called a bad day in the office but still found a way to defeat Argentine’s Francisco Cerundolo 5-7 7-6 (3) 6-3 6-3 in a brutal contest which lasted almost four hours on Rod Laver Arena.
De Minaur is now through to the fourth round for the fourth time in Melbourne but has never been able to get past that stage.
He will take on 20-year-old American Alex Michelsen who he lost to last year in Los Cabos on a hard court,
“It was definitely not pretty but I found a way, that’s all that matters,” De Minaur said. “That’s all I need to do in these types of moments, find a way to get through the first week.
“By no means was it pretty. I’m glad I made it over the line.”
After losing the first set and then looking vulnerable again in the second set, the 25-year-old revealed he was struggling to deal with the pressure of the situation.
“I feel like I learned a lot. I mean, looking back at this, I reckon this is probably the first match that I’ve played here in Oz where I’ve felt, like today, that I didn’t feel comfortable,” De Minaur said.
“I felt all of a sudden a little bit of pressure playing. I didn’t know what to do. I just told myself, yeah, to go out there and compete.
“A part of me knew that at some point there was always going to be a match where pressure was going to be there and the nerves were going to be there, kind of the expectation was going to be there. I knew it was going to be a part of it.
“I just told myself to go out there, compete. Geez, I’d rather win ugly any day over losing pretty, right? Ultimately I lived to fight another day. My next one I’ll make sure I bring a better level.”
He admitted previously he would have most likely lost that match given the circumstances.
“I think in the past, not playing well, not feeling amazing, I maybe would have found a way to lose that match,” De Minaur said. “Like that first set where I was in control and then all of a sudden it just kind of slipped out of my hands.
“I think this version of myself is exactly that: even if I don’t have my best day, I’m going to compete till the end, and I’m still going to be a very tough out for anyone who’s in front of me.
“I build on that. We move on. Hopefully bigger and better things are coming on for the next round.”
Michelson has taken down two seeds on his way to the fourth round, defeating No.11 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round and then defeating No.19 Karen Khachanov in straight sets on Saturday.
De Minaur was the first top 10 player he defeated in his career last year although the Aussie got revenge later in the year at the French Open with a convincing three-set victory.
“I’ve played Michelsen twice, one went his way; one went mine. Two different matches, one on clay; one on hard,” he said.
“He’s been playing really well. He’s a dangerous opponent with a lot of confidence now. He’s taken some big scalps this week, so I’m ready for a battle.
“He’s going to go out there with no fear and I’m going to do my best to make it difficult for him.”
DE MINAUR KEEPS AUSSIE HOPES ALIVE AS QUARTERFINALS LOOM
He has made his reputation on never giving up and Alex de Minaur called on all of that Aussie spirit to will himself into the second week of the Australian Open.
Under a scorching sun on Rod Laver Arena, the No. 8 seed fought through a horror opening to book a spot in the fourth round with a courageous 5-7 7-6 (3) 6-3 6-3 victory over Argentine’s Francisco Cerundolo.
De Minaur is the only Aussie left in the tournament after the 3hr 53min epic, played during the hottest day of the tournament which ultimately proved too much for his opponent who was cramping by the end.
By contrast, the Aussie was chasing down every ball and in the penultimate game he made one of his trademark chase-downs which had the crowd on their feet and de Minaur slapping his thighs showing the world he has the legs to beat anyone.
The Demon isn't mincing words 😈🤩#AO2025pic.twitter.com/GpmmN1Lhqn
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2025
“The legs are back,” De Minaur declared afterwards. “You put in a lot of hard work in the off season and these are the moments you see the results.
“I felt great out there and it’s good to feel so good on this court with this amazing crowd. Something you can always count on, even if I don’t play my best I’m going to compete to the end.”
De Minaur is through to the fourth round for the fourth time in Melbourne but has never been able to get past that stage. Strangely, his home grand slam is the only one where he hasn’t reached the quarter-finals.
Last year when he pushed his way inside the top 10 in the world, he reached the quarter-final at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
Waiting for de Minaur in the next round is a big-serving American kid who has already beaten him before.
Alex Michelsen, 20, took out No. 11 seed Stefanos Tsistsipas in the first round and has fond memories of de Minaur being the first top 10 player he’d beaten in his career 6-4 6-1 in Los Cabos last year.
“I went out there and didn’t miss a ball for an hour and a half or however long that match went. I couldn’t miss,” Michelsen said
“I was playing way above my level at the time. My level was here, and I was playing way up there. It’s always nice when that happens. It’s pretty rare. That’s what happened last time, I just couldn’t miss a ball.”
De Minaur will clearly have to lift his level but the man who knows a fair bit about winning at Melbourne Park is in the Aussie’s corner.
Novak Djokovic, who is searching for 11th Australian Open, is predicting great things from the 25-year-old for the rest of the tournament.
“Terrific improvement,” Djokovic said about de Minaur’s game. “I think his serve became a big weapon, maybe it wasn’t before. He was always fast, so he kept that, I mean, that speed on the court, I think he’s coming into, like, he’s approaching much more than he used to do.
“We all know how good he’s defending, but his offence has improved a lot, his court positioning has improved. You know, it’s not a surprise that he ended up top ten last season in his best season yet.
“So I think we’re going to still see great things from Alex in this tournament. I have watched him play a few matches, and the level is great … he’s got the crowd behind him, he’s playing really well.”
He didn’t look like the player Djokovic thought he was early days against Cerundolo, the world No. 31, with head-scratching the best way to describe the first set.
De Minaur broke Cerundolo in the opening game of the match and then proceeded to hand the advantage back with consecutive double faults.
That was a theme of the early stages, the Argentine ripping his huge forehand and the Australian strangely struggling with his serve.
Ultimately it brought down his downfall with a double fault handing Cerundolo the break back to level at 5-5 and then two games later he gave the set away with another double fault – his sixth for the set.
The crowd in Rod Laver Arena was stunned and they became more and more anxious as the second set followed a similar path with de Minaur struggling to get any sort of foothold in the match.
And there was a worrying statistic in the background with the Australian only having won seven out of 30 matches in grand slam tournaments after he’d lost the first set.
A huge hold on his serve to push the set to a tie-break was significant and then de Minaur dug in, producing the type of tennis everyone had expected from the start.
Ran a distance of 51.8m to win a superb rally, used that momentum to get the break in the crunch 4th set - the de Minaur 🚆is well and truly running!#AO2025pic.twitter.com/iDe7tgRZZW
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2025
One point in the tie-break had 23 shots in it and there is no-one better suit to a slugfest than the local hero. He evened the match up by winning three consecutive points and then urged the fans to get behind him with a big fist pump.
When he raced to 4-1 in the third set and Cerundolo called the trainer with cramping, the signs were looking good for the Aussie.
But in keeping with the head-scratching, the battling Argentine broke back to push the set to 4-3 before his body really started to be an issue. He didn’t win another game as de Minaur closed the set in 40 minutes.
And then with a whiff of blood, de Minaur became energised and put the foot down, dominating the 50-minute final set to keep his Australian Open dream alive.
Recap the major moments in our live blog below
Originally published as Australian Open Day 7: Alex de Minaur wins third-round clash against Francisco Cerundolo
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