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Sinner breezes past local hope de Minaur to book Australian Open semi-final
Anna Harrington, AAP • January 23rd, 2025 8:30 am
Photo: AAP
Alex de Minaur felt like he'd been "slapped across the face" after his most promising Australian Open tilt yet ended in a demoralising quarter-final demolition at the hands of familiar foe Jannik Sinner.
After reaching the Melbourne Park final eight for the first time, de Minaur was attempting to reach his maiden semi-final at any slam on Wednesday.
The world No.8 was chasing his first win over world No.1 Sinner in 10 attempts, after winning just one set against the Italian in their previous nine meetings.
But defending Open champion Sinner outgunned, then dismantled the Australian to claim a straight-sets 6-3 6-2 6-1 win in just an hour and 48 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
"It's been too many times playing him and seeing the same thing," de Minaur said.
"So I'm not even surprised any more when I face him. Matches like these happen.
"He's probably my worst match-up, and you can see it in the head-to-head.
"Look, the negative is after playing some great tennis on home soil and gaining so much, you feel like you just have been slapped across the face, to be honest, to finish off like that.
"I guess the other positive is it's not the first time that I've felt that. I felt the same thing when I played Novak (Djokovic) a couple of years ago. So, hey, I'll survive. I'll keep improving."
Alex de Minaur I Photo: AAP
Renowned workhorse de Minaur, 25, will have to lick his wounds and contemplate how he can take his game up another gear.
He has now failed to claim a set in his four quarter-final appearances at slams to date and has a 0-10 record against Sinner.
"I felt like today was very great match from my side," Sinner said.
"I served very well. Breaking quite early in each set was very important for me and for my game.
"So, yeah, for sure was the best match of the tournament so far."
"I always have to expect something different from him.
"You know, every time we play, you never know what's coming. So I have to be very prepared for every single thing. Today I was prepared."
Scintillating Sinner, 23, will face world No.20 Ben Shelton in Friday's semi-final, after the American beat Lorenzo Sonego in Wednesday's other quarter-final.
The world No.1 has maintained his title defence despite having a doping saga hanging over his head, with a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing set for April.
The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed against the decision not to ban the Italian after he tested positive twice for the anabolic steroid clostebol last March.
World No.2 Alexander Zverev and 10-time champion Novak Djokovic face off in the other semi-final.
De Minaur had dropped just one set across the opening four rounds at Melbourne Park but quickly fell behind against Sinner, who clubbed 27 winners to 10.
Sinner showed no signs of the illness that plagued his fourth-round win over Holger Rune.
He said blood tests had cleared him of any major illness and he had felt "much better" on Wednesday.
Sinner seized the early edge when he broke de Minaur in just his second service game to take a 3-1 lead before wrapping up the opening set.
He twice broke de Minaur to claim the second set.
The third set proved a formality with Sinner again breaking de Minaur in the first game and racing to a 4-0 lead before sealing victory.
