Handling the pressure at your home Grand Slam can be tough. At the 2024 Australian Open, Alex de Minaur feels in a uniquely strong position to handle it.
The highest-ranked home favourite in the draw powered to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 third-round victory against Flavio Cobolli on Friday to continue his red-hot start to the season in Melbourne. De Minaur fired 26 winners and converted six of 20 break points he earned to wrap a two-hour, seven-minute triumph inside John Cain Arena.
De Minaur arrived in Melbourne after going 3-1 for Team Australia at the United Cup, where his victories included his first defeat of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Having also subsequently risen into the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time, he will be confident of reaching his first Australian Open quarter-final when he next takes on Andrey Rublev.
“Maybe it feels a little it different,” said De Minaur in his on-court interview. “It feels like we are getting to the tail end of the tournament and the matches are going to be very tough. I’m looking forward to it. I’m playing some great tennis and I’ve started the year amazingly. Hopefully I can keep it going.”
Demon delivers 😈
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 19, 2024
In front of a packed John Cain Arena, @alexdeminaur flies into the round of 16 for the third consecutive year.@AustralianOpen | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xGYMbU4Ah7
The 21-year-old Cobolli, a competitor at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah in December, came through qualifying to reach the third round on just his second Grand Slam appearance. The Italian could not match De Minaur’s quality in their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, however, especially once the Australian recovered quickly after dropping serve in the seventh game of the match.
“He’s a great competitor. He’s shown what he’s been able to do this whole tournament, coming through qualifying and getting to the third round,” said De Minaur in his on-court interview. “A lot of respect to him, it was a great match, and I wish him the best for the rest of the season.
“I struggled a bit to find my rhythm throughout the match, but I stayed in the moment, and I stayed composed. I tried to play some good tennis and it worked out in the end.”
Rublev also notched an impressive third-round win. The fifth seed overcame 2023 quarter-finalist Sebastian Korda 6-2, 7-6(6), 6-4 to seal his spot in the last 16.
The second-set tie-break was arguably the turning point of Rublev and Korda’s first Grand Slam meeting. After two sets of grinding, the American appeared to have found his best level and led 4/2, but he twice let slip promising positions in rallies to allow Rublev to take a two-set lead.
The nine-time major quarter-finalist Rublev then notched an early break in the third set and continued his dominant serving performance to close out a one-hour, 59-minute victory. The 26-year-old finished having faced just one break point all match and won 83 per cent (54/65) of points behind his first delivery.
After starting 2024 by lifting his 15th ATP Tour crown in Hong Kong, Rublev is now 7-0 for the season.
“I’m happy to start the year really well,” said Rublev. “I’m happy to start the new year with a title and to be here in the fourth round is something special for me. We will see what is going to happen next. I don’t want to think, I just want to play and that’s it.”
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