Alex de Minaur continued his astonishing form as the Aussie defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open charity match at the Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday.
De Minaur, 24, celebrated his rise to the top 10 by taking on another big fish as Alcaraz was stunned by the Aussie’s resilience and prowess. The 24-year-old defeated him 6-4, 5-7 (10-3).
While this was Alcaraz’s first match in two months and first Down Under since 2022, as he missed the 2023 Australian Open, De Minaur came to the court with massive wins over the likes of Novak Djokovic not so long ago.
With the form he is in, de Minaur expressed a desire to win a grand slam in front of his home crowd.
“We’ll just have to wait and see … I heard a pretty good quote: ‘How big would you dream if you knew you couldn’t fail?’ That’s been the motto, I’m pushing myself every day and hopefully the sky’s the limit,” de Minaur said after the match.
“I’m extremely happy … my level is in a good spot coming into Melbourne. 2024 has been very good to me, hopefully I can keep it going.”
Speaking from courtside during the match, his United Cup coach Lleyton Hewitt stated while there was little at stake in the Alcaraz clash, as it was nothing more than an exhibition match, the time on the Rod Laver surface would be valuable for de Minaur as a tough schedule is expected once the major begins.
“It’s probably a little bit quicker than Sydney (during the United Cup) here at the moment, so that’s kind of what he’s getting to feel out here tonight,” Hewitt told Nine.
“You’d imagine he’s going to play quite a few matches, hopefully he can go deep in this tournament on this particular court and surface.”