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How far should Aussie fans expect De Minaur to go at Melbourne Park?
Lachlan Geleit • January 14th, 2025 1:57 pm
Alex De Minaur has never been better positioned to make it deep in the Australian Open men’s singles draw.
The 25-year-old Aussie has reached the fourth round in each of his last three attempts at Melbourne Park, but entering this tournament as the No. 8 seed, he’ll hope to surpass that and move deeper into the second week this time around.
De Minaur made the quarter-finals of the other three Grand Slams in 2024 and Aussie tennis great Mark Woodforde is excited about his hopes in the first Slam of 2025.
“Big time (fans can be excited about De Minaur’s hopes), one would expect ‘The Demon’ to make it through to the second week,” SEN Tennis expert Woodforde told SEN Breakfast
“This is the big question for him moving forward. He's sitting just inside the top 10, which is a fantastic achievement, and I'm sure the next step for him would be to go deeper into a Grand Slam.
“But it's the seven matches and the five-set matches over the two weeks that have probably forced Alex to stumble in past years.
“You walk a fine line with confidence and if he's fully fit and has got the crowd behind him (he can go far).
“Again being newly minted in the top 10, he’s going to be a tough customer for any of the guys in week two.”
De Minaur opens up his tournament with a clash against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday night.
With Stefanos Tsitsipas falling in the first round, De Minaur - if he keeps winning - could face No. 31 seed Francisco Cerundolo in the third round, No. 19 seed Karen Khachanov in the fourth round and potentially No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.
