Australian Open: De Minaur Gives Home Fans Something To Cheer About

Alex de Minaur, Australian Open, Melbourne
Alex de Minaur (photo: Tennis Australia/Morgan Hancock)

MELBOURNE/WASHINGTON, January 16, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Australian favorite Alex de Minaur gave home fans something to cheer about during Day 5 of the Australian Open. The World No. 8 and eighth seed from Sydney delighted the Rod Laver Arena crowd with a commanding performance filled with power and poise that resulted in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over 136th-ranked American qualifier Tristan Boyer Thursday afternoon.

During the one-hour, 59-minute skirmish, de Minaur hit six aces, dropped only four points on his first serve, and struck 24 winners to just 15 unforced errors. He outpointed Boyer 96-64. After dropping his first serve, de Minaur went on to win eight straight games and it was a difference maker in the final outcome.

“Ultimately, it was about me bringing the best version of myself,” said the 25-year-old de Minaur, who is competing in Melbourne for the eighth time, after advancing to the third round of his home Slam.

Next, he will face No. 31 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who advanced when fellow Argentine, 73rd-ranked Facundo Diaz Acosta retired during the second set, with Cerundolo leading 6-2, 1-0 after 40 minutes.

“It’s going to be tough, he’s a quality opponent, lots of firepower, great forehand,” said de Minaur, one of only two Australian men remaining in the main draw along with No. 68 Aleksandar Vukic, who will face No. 15 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain in the third round. “He’s taken some big scalps and hopefully I’m not the next one.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a really tough one. I’ve got to be up for it from the very first point, bring that intensity, play some aggressive style of tennis.”

Sinner advances, then announces coaching change

World No. 1 and defending AO champion Jannik Sinner dropped a set for the first time since October – 106 days, after winning 29 straight – but rallied nicely for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 win over 173rd-ranked Australian wild card Tristan Schoolkate in two hours and 46 minutes inside Rod Laver Arena Thursday evening. It was his 20th straight win against Aussie competition at tour-level. He has also now won all 15 matches he’s contested against players at their home Grand Slams.

The victory, the 16th straight for Sinner, advanced him to face No. 46 Marcos Giron of the United States, who went the distance to defeat No. 38 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, in four hours and six minutes on Court 14.

“It’s always tough to play against a player I don’t know very well,” Sinner said during his on-court interview with John McEnroe, after recording his ninth straight AO victory. “I felt like he was serving very well. He was playing much better in the beginning than I was. Obviously with the crowd, it was an amazing atmosphere.

“It’s a very special place, especially for Australians to play here with the home crowd, but I have to be very happy still with my performance. I never take things for granted, so I’m very happy to again be in the next round.”

During his post-match news conference, Sinner announced that he and Darren Cahill, one part of his coaching team along with Simone Vagnozzi, will part ways at the end of the season. Cahill, who has formerly coached Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Simona Halep, said previously that Sinner would be the last player he will ever coach.

“I feel very, very lucky to be his last player on the tour,” Sinner said. “It’s a huge honor. … He brought me so many things. One year is still long. I don’t want to talk so much about his retirement. I feel very, very lucky and happy to be his last player on tour. He has been an amazing, amazing coach and person, not only for me but for all the other players he has worked with.”

Keys, Collins set up third-round Top-20 clash

No. 19 seed Madison Keys set up an all-American third-round Top-20 clash with No. 10 seed Danielle Collins with her 7-6 (1), 2-6, 7-5 win over No. 125 Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania. The World No. 14 Keys hit 37 winners during her two-hour, 30-minute win.

Meanwhile, World No. 11 Collins, a 2022 AO finalist, ended the run of popular 165th-ranked Australian qualifier Destanee Aiava, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2, in two hours and 25 minutes on Kia Arena. She struck 45 winners in her winning effort.

Then, Collins drew the ire of the Aussie fans by blowing kisses to the crowd as she walked off the court and repeating “How about that!”

During her post-match news conference Collins, 31, explained: “The people that don’t like you, and the people that hate you, they actually pay your bills. Obviously, my professional career is not going to last forever.” The American pointed out that anyone who “bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me, it’s all going toward the Danielle Collins Fund.”

Stay tuned.

Learner becomes the teacher, Tien wins late-night thriller

World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, a 3-time AO finalist, and 121st-ranked American qualifier Learner Tien played the fifth-latest finishing singles match in AO history and sixth one in Grand Slam history – it ended at 2:54 a.m. Friday morning on Margaret Court Arena with the roof closed – and it was decided by a 10-point match tie-break, after Tien was unable to close out the second-round victory during a third-set tiebreaker more than an hour-and-a-half earlier.

In the end, the final match of the second round was won by the 19-year-old Tien from California, who authored the biggest upset of this year’s Australian Open, winning 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (8), 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) in four hours and 49 minutes.

At 5-all in the fifth set after four hours and 21 minutes, play was interrupted by rain at 2:28 a.m. It gave the players a brief respite while the roof was closed. Then, both players broke the other’s serve and it was on to the decisive match tie-break. From there, Tien pulled out an improbable victory after Medvedev sent a second-shot backhand return long on match point at 9-7. Tien finished with 53 winners and withstood 20 aces and 52 aces from Medvedev.

The two combined to play 370 points with Medvedev finishing ahead 188-182.

Tien, who became the second-youngest American man to reach the Australian Open third round since Pete Sampras in 1990, next will play 69th-ranked Frenchman Corentin Moutet, who earlier Thursday rallied over 146th-ranked American qualifier Mitchell Krueger, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Around the Australian Open

• World No. 4 Taylor Fritz of the United States, last year’s US Open and Nitto ATP Finals runner-up, won his second straight match in Melbourne without having his service broken. He hit 24 winners and won 80 percent of his first-serve points en route to a 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 victory over 150th-ranked Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin in an hour and 22 minutes on Margaret Court Arena Thursday afternoon.

“It always feels great to come out and play a match like that,” Fritz said. “I played well in the first round, too, so I’m high in confidence going into the third round. This is awesome.”

Afterward, during his on-court interview, Fritz announced he would donate his first-round prize-money of $132,000 (Australian dollars) to Los Angeles fire relief efforts.

“I mean, I feel like it’s really the least I can do,” said Fritz, who was born in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and maintains his training base in the state.

• World No. 13 Holger Rune of Denmark advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over No. 34 Matteo Berrettini of Italy, in three hours and 27 minutes on John Cain Arena Thursday afternoon. Rune hit 48 winners and pressured Berrettini into committing 51 unforced errors. He outpointed his opponent 143-133.

• No. 42 Alex Michelsen of the United States set up a third-round meeting with World No. 19 Karen Khachanov of Russia after defeating 258th-ranked Australian wild card James McCabe, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (4), in two hours and 15 minutes on Court 3 behind 30 winners. Meanwhile, Khachanov hit 43 winners and defeated No. 86 Gabriel Diallo of Canada, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, in three hours and 14 minutes on Court 13.

• Both Italian Lorenzos – World No. 16 Musetti and No. 55 Sonego – were victorious. Musetti defeated No. 56 Denis Shapovalov of Canada, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-2, in two hours and 42 minutes on Court 3, taking advantage of 62 unforced errors by the Canadian. He will face No. 21 seed Ben Shelton of the United States, who defeated No. 182 Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain, in the third round.

Meanwhile, Sonego ended the run of 112th-ranked Brazilian qualifier and #NextGenATP star Joao Fonseca of Brazil, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, in three hours and 37 minutes on 1573 Arena. Sonego hit 46 winners and broke his opponent five times in 12 opportunities. He outpointed Fonseca 154-132. It ended Fonseca’s 14-match winning streak at all levels and it was his  first loss in his Grand Slam debut after upsetting World No. 9 Andrey Rublev on Tuesday.

Sonego will face No. 59 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary in the third round. Marozsan upset No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, in three hours and 17 minutes on Kia Arena.

• World No. 4 Jasmine Paolini of Italy made quick work of her second-round match with No. 70 Renata Zarazua of Mexico, needing just 76 minutes to advance with a 6-2, 6-3 victory on Rod Laver Arena Thursday evening. The fourth seed hit 19 winners, converted six of 11 break points and outpointed Zarazua 63-44. Next, Paolini will by opposed by No. 28 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who advanced over No. 83 Caroline Dolehide of the United States, 6-1, 6-4.

• No. 22 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain was upset by No. 75 Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-2, in two hours and 17 minutes on Court 3. Kudermetova struck 30 winners and converted five of five break points to advance against No. 15 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, who eliminated No. 86 Erika Andreeva of Russia, 6-2, 6-3 in 80 minutes on 1573 Arena. Haddad Maia outpointed her opponent 56-36.

• A pair of unseeded players moved have moved into the third round. First, No. 82 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania advanced with a 7-5, 7-5 win over No. 76 Lucia Bronzetti of Italy, and 128th-ranked lucky loser Eva Lys of Germany upset No. 69 Varvara Gracheva of France, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to reach the third round at a major for the first time.

Thursday’s Australian Open results

Friday’s Australian Open order of play

By the numbers

The Australian Open set another single-day attendance record on Thursday. With a Day/Night attendance of 95,881 (60,398 for the day session and 35,483 for the night session), the AO set a first Thursday Day/Night record, breaking the old mark of 91,233 set in 2024. It also broke the single day attendance record of 95,290 set on Monday.

The AO cumulative main draw attendance through the first four days is 449,070.

“Quotable …”

“Everybody’s story is different, and everybody struggles with different stuff, but it doesn’t matter. When we’re going to be out there on the court, whoever is going to play better will win, and that’s it. I’ll just focus on tennis.

“For sure we have different stories, but before the match, I’m not going to really think about that. I’ll just prepare based on how she plays now and that’s it.”

– World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland, during her post-match news conference Thursday, in describing her third-round match up with Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu.

 

Search

Brigitte Urban
Tennis photographer
camera lens

International Blogs

Dietmar Kaspar

Schwaben Open kehren 2025 in die bayerischen Sommerferien zurück

December 16, 2024

Robert Frank

TCG Charity Cup bringt 13.000 Euro für den guten Zweck

October 16, 2024

Florian Heer

Apostolos Tsitsipas: “Coaching ist etwas Persönliches!”

September 4, 2024

Podcast

Categories