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De Minaur no match for Alcaraz as 50-year drought extends
Nicholas Quinlan •  January 28th, 2026 12:53 am
Australia will now have to wait at least 51 years before they see one of their own lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup aloft, as Alex de Minaur has been knocked out of the Australian Open by Carlos Alcaraz.
The World No. 1 is through to his maiden Australian Open semi-final following a straight-sets win (7-5, 6-2, 6-1) at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday night.
For de Minaur, it's now his seventh loss in a Grand Slam quarter-final and now extends his head-to-head record against Alcaraz to 0-6.
It was quite the performance by the Spaniard, who from the outset controlled the match despite some unforced errors to start.
He would break the serve of the New South Welshman on the first time of trying, which saw him lead 3-love.
And while de Minaur would reel off three games of his own in response, Alcaraz then broke twice later in the set to win 7-5.
From there, the 22-year-old continued to leave his mark on the match, having forced de Minaur into multiple errors, seeing him cruise to victory.
It now sets up a massive semi-final between Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev for a spot in the 2026 Australian Open men's singles Final.
That match will be played on Friday at Rod Laver Arena, with the clash expected to see many tune in.
And you can too with SEN.
SEN's live coverage of the tournament on Friday begins from 2pm AEDT through the SEN app before going on to its radio network from 6pm.
For Wednesday and Thursday, SEN's commentary begins from 7pm on both the SEN app and radio network.
