Alex De Minaur remains unfazed over his potential opposition and the schedule as he heads into the second week at the Australian Open for the third consecutive year.
Another second week appearance for De Minaur in Melbourne as he comfortably defeated Flavio Cobolli 6-3 6-3 6-1.
The victory means he is into the last 16 for the third consecutive year and is the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt to achieve the feat.
However De Minaur dismissed claims of Hewitt’s legacy and admitted he wasn’t completely satisfied with the performance, “First of all, I’ll try to get a little bit better and beat my personal best, get to a quarterfinals,” De Minaur explained in his press conference.
“That’s the first step. I’ve made a couple fourth rounds in the past. I maybe have gotten to that point and not played the type of match I wanted to. I’m hoping I can break that barrier and go one further.
“Look, I’m not too unsatisfied with the performance today. Ultimately I won in straight sets. I won playing some decent tennis. I think probably just playing on a different court today made it a little bit tricky for me to find my footing and my timing in certain shots.
“That’s probably the slight thing. I have been playing some great tennis. Maybe today wasn’t my best level, but I still know that I’ve got that in the bag. Hopefully the next match I can show that.”
Not only is De Minaur unfazed about his opposition or the records that he’s looking to replicate in Melbourne but the Australian continues to be fearless about the schedule.
The Australian was not put on Rod Laver Arena and was asked whether that bothered him or not, “I mean, I would love to play on RLA. Obviously that prime time slot is pretty special, and you’ve got to earn it,” De Minaur stated.
“If the organizers decide to put me there, then I’ll be happy to play on it. But, yeah, ultimately doesn’t really matter when I play, whether I play first match, whether I play last.
“Whether I play on RLA or Court 27, I’m still going to be the same. I’m still going to walk out there and enjoy it and give it 150%.”
De Minaur’s fearless attitude will be hoping to earn a place in his maiden Australian Open quarter-final when he takes on either Andrey Rublev or Sebastian Korda.
Speaking ahead of the potential match-ups, De Minaur detailed the specific game-plans that he will be facing on Sunday, “Yeah, against Rublev, we’ve played a few times over the years. We’ve also played at different stages of our careers,” De Minaur said.
“Last year I think we played twice. I got him in Rotterdam, and he got me at the end of the year in Bercy. Both indoors. Both kind of solid conditions. Both tight matches.
“Against Andrey, he’s got some immense firepower, and his forehand is deadly. It’s basically do your best to not allow him to hit forehands, especially from the middle of the court. That will probably be the game plan against him.
“Then Seb, I played twice that I can remember: Wimbledon and Bercy. He’s got more of an all-court game. Maybe doesn’t have the firepower in the sense of ball speed as Rublev does, but he’s got more of an all-court game.
“He can be dangerous by coming into the net and just being maybe a little bit more aggressive from the baseline, trying to take the net. Two different opponents. Two different game styles. Hopefully I’ll be able to execute them.”
