Making no secret of his Australian Open title obsession, Alex de Minaur has elevated himself to genuine grand slam contender after motoring into the second round in Melbourne.
Like a tennis hot rod, de Minaur needed less than two hours to see off qualifying lucky loser Mackenzie McDonald 6-2 6-2 6-3 in his equal-fastest start ever to his home major.
Living up to his sixth seeding, the one hour 48-minute victory matched his record time to progress to round two from 2021.
The seven games conceded were also the equal-fewest that Australia’s tennis speed ‘Demon’ has lost in advancing to round two at the year’s first slam.
“Historically I’ve played pretty well here in Australia, so I enjoy the conditions — it’s quite quick,” de Minaur said after after booking a second-round meeting on Wednesday with Serbian world No.90 Hamad Medjedovic.
“When the sun’s out like today, the conditions are pretty fast. The ball flies through the air.
“It helps my serve a little bit, to get a little bit more oomph on it and a couple more free points.
“And I’ve got the crowd behind me as well, so it’s a win-win.”
The world No.6 has never entered a grand slam with a higher seeding and duly delivered his most convincing first-round performance in nine Open campaigns.
Fresh off two spirited United Cup wins, de Minaur broke the American five times while being utterly untroubled on his own serve.
The home favourite lost only five points after landing his first delivery and staved off the one solitary break point he faced.
Despite his career-high ranking, the six-times grand slam quarter finalist says he won’t rest until he closes the gap on the world’s top two superstars, Carlos Alcaraz and two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner.
“I’ve got kind of that tunnel vision of I want more, every single time,” he said.
“So I am working to enjoy a little bit more and appreciate the journey and where I’ve come from to where I am right now.
“I’ve given myself a little bit of a pat on the back but, at the same time, I want more.
“So the plan is to go for more, keep on improving, keep pushing and hopefully six is not my career-high ranking.”
De Minaur knows the best way to achieve that rankings goal is to keep winning — all the way to Sunday week’s title match.
“Look, the way I’m feeling at the moment is that I’ve gotten to a stage where I’m not just another number in this draw,” he said.
“I’m playing to win it and be one of those guys in contention. So ultimately, that’s the goal.
“I’m going to do my best, and it’s not about being satisfied if I make a second week, if I make a quarter-finals, a semis.
“There is no real kind of stage (I’m aiming for). It’s just going to be having that mindset of, ‘OK, I’m going for this’, and it’s going to take one step at a time.
“But I’m not just making up the numbers now. It’s about me taking that next step and believing in my abilities and that’s going to be the only thing that’s going to allow me to.”
