Match Report
De Minaur sees off Michelsen, advances to maiden AO QF
Australian next plays Sinner
January 20, 2025
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Alex de Minaur is just the third Australian man in 20 years to reach the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.
By Sam Jacot
Alex de Minaur broke new ground at his home Slam on Monday when he advanced to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open for the first time. The eighth-seed Australian overcame 20-year-old Alex Michelsen 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-3 in a topsy-turvy three setter.
De Minaur has now reached the quarter-finals at all four majors and will next take on the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings and defending champion Jannik Sinner. The 25-year-old is the 35th Australian man to reach the last eight in Melbourne but just the third since 2005, joining Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios.
With his two-hour, 10-minute win, De Minaur improved to 17-0 in his record against players ranked lower than him at the hard-court major.
“It means the world,” De Minaur said when asked about reaching the quarter-finals. “There is nothing I want to do more than play well here in Australia in front of you guys. I am glad I finally made it to the quarter-finals. Let’s go for bigger and better things.”
Competing in the fourth round in Melbourne for the fourth consecutive year, the 25-year-old flew out of the blocks against a misfiring Michelsen, winning the first eight games of the match. It took until the 41st minute for Michelsen to get on the scoreboard and the young American then showed great fight to push De Minaur in the second set.
In front of a loud home crowd on Rod Laver Arena, De Minaur was on the verge of a two sets lead when serving at 5-3, 30/0. However, Michelsen upped the aggression and landed a few heavy forehands to break back and eventually force a tie-break.
With the set hanging in the balance, De Minaur rallied from 4/5 in the tie-break. He struck a forehand winner to level, hit a big first serve to move ahead and then capitalised on a Michelsen forehand error to clinch the set and take full command.
“I had my opportunities in the second set to maybe run away with that and not let him in sight of the match, but I was not able to close out,” De Minaur said. “He raised his level and made it a tough match. That second set was pivotal and I was happy to bounce back after not a game to get broken. That second set was massive.”
Pumped up as he walked back to his bench, De Minaur pulled away in the third set. He committed just seven unforced errors in the third set and saved one break point when serving for the match at 5-3 to improve to 2-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
DEMON TURNS IT UP AT HOME 😈📣
He brings the force to move into the quarter-finals with a 6-0 7-6(5) 6-3 win over Michelsen… 🔥#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/Ir2ld9Q2xq
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 20, 2025
Michelsen was playing in the second week at a major for the first time. The 20-year-old, who competed at last month’s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, earned Top 20 wins against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Karen Khachanov en route to the fourth round.
If De Minaur is to reach his first major semi-final, he will have to do something he has never managed before and beat Sinner. The Italian leads the Australian 9-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having not dropped a set in any of their nine meetings.
De Minaur is proud of his progress to the quarter-finals and believes it is reward for the constant hard work he has put in.
“Like my whole career, it has been day by day,” De Minaur said. “It has not been success overnight. I have had to improve every year, little percentages. Get a little stronger, bigger and get a few more free points on my serve. Getting more confidence and I think it is a combination of that and I think the consistency always pays off at the end.”
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