By Marc McGowan
Here we go again: Alex de Minaur is in the Australian Open’s last 16 for the second straight year.
Australia’s second-ranked man, the No.22 seed in this year’s tournament, has made the same stage at Wimbledon and the US Open, even pushing into a quarter-final in New York in the COVID-weakened 2020 draw.
Alex de Minaur proved too good for Benjamin Bonzi on Saturday.Credit:Eddie Jim
The 23-year-old second coming of Lleyton Hewitt beat another Frenchman ranked in the 40s on Saturday, Benjamin Bonzi, in a 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-1 cakewalk that backed up his trickier four-set defeat of Adrian Mannarino.
“I’m extremely happy to be able to do it in back-to-back years and give myself another chance and opportunity to go deep at my home slam, which is ultimately what I want to be doing,” de Minaur said.
“It’s no secret that, against the best in the world, you can’t just put the ball in the court and wait for them to miss because that’s just not going to happen. So, it is a conscious effort [to step it up]. But, I think today I did what I needed to do and got the job done.”
Bonzi upset 14th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in five sets in the previous round, so he is no chump, but offered little beyond token resistance – especially in the second and third sets – to the NSW terrier, who scampered across the court with his usual fanaticism.
Alex de Minaur is into the fourth round of the Australian Open.Credit:Eddie Jim
The first set against de Minaur was at least competitive, but even then, the Australian twice went up a break, including serving for a one-set lead at 5-3, only to hand the break back on both occasions.
The ensuing tie-breaker, which de Minaur raced through without dropping a single point, was a sign of things to come as he dominated the match thereafter, hitting 12 more winners than Bonzi and committing half as many unforced errors.
Before Mannarino, it was 209th-ranked Taiwanese qualifier Yu-hsiou Hsu, but it is suddenly about to get a lot harder, as it almost always does as this stage of a grand slam.
Benjamin Bonzi was unable to match the Australian.Credit:Eddie Jim
Next up will be nine-time champion Novak Djokovic, in what would be a first meeting between the pair, or former top-10 star Grigor Dimitrov, who has reached the semi-finals at three of the four slams, including in Australia.
One of those options is clearly more appealing than the other, even if a left hamstring issue has left Djokovic a tad laboured, although de Minaur said he would not “read too much” into the 21-time grand slam champion’s injury if that match-up eventuated.
“These are the matches you want to be playing. You don’t want a walkover into the final of a slam – you want to be playing the best in the world, and that’s what I’ve got,” de Minaur said.
“I’m probably going to have the best in the world in front of me, and I’m ready for the battle. I want to take it to him. I want to go and show what I’m made of on the biggest stages and just test myself out there and really take it to him.”
De Minaur has won two of his three contests with Dimitrov but always remains on guard against the Bulgarian former world No.3.
“I think Grigor’s up there with one of the most talented players on tour,” he said. “His top level is exceptional, and he makes tennis look very, very easy. If I play Grigor, I’ve got to know that he’s going to play some incredible tennis. I’ve just got to be very tough mentally and try to stick to my game, try to be as solid as I can and take any little opportunity I can get. So, they’re both going to be battles, which I’ll be ready for.”
De Minaur finally claimed his maiden top-five scalp in November – at his 19th attempt – when he upset Russia’s Daniil Medvedev at the Paris Masters, but he quickly followed up with a three-set takedown of Rafael Nadal at this month’s United Cup.
Armed with all-time confidence, he then declared in the days before the Australian Open that his next goal was to break into the top 10, having been as high as No.15.
“As the person I am, as the player I am, I’m not satisfied where I am right now, so I want to keep improving and, for me, that’s [top 10] the next step, and it’s just about getting there now,” de Minaur said.
“I’m feeling great, playing some great tennis, feeling mentally fresh [and] physically fresh … this year I feel a bit better than I did the year before.
“I think I’ve always had the level to beat these guys, but now it’s the belief, after getting a few of those breakthrough wins, it’s very much possible and doable every week … I know that I can take it to these top guys.”
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