Alex de Minaur brings main character energy in Australian Open straight-sets win
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On the stage of the Australian Open this year, Alex de Minaur is giving irresistible main character energy. Just one round in he has survived the elimination of would-be co-stars, is romantically intertwined, and in his first real scene delivered his lines with aplomb.
The Australian No 8 seed produced a flashy opener in the first set against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, before the plot threw up just enough intrigue to entertain a full Rod Laver Arena. Of course, the local hero prevailed 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in 142 minutes.
But even he admits his mind wasn’t always on his match. A rotating scoreboard on Rod Laver Arena flashed intermittently with the score of the contest of Katie Boulter, De Minaur’s fiancé, on the neighbouring Kia Arena. “You want to be focusing on your own match, then all of a sudden you see the results of Katie’s match,” he said. “You try not to pay too much attention and focus on yourself, but the sheer fact that it’s always coming around, it makes it difficult.”.
Even without the stress of the scoreboard, the Australian faces pressure enough. De Minaur rose as high as No 6 in the ATP rankings last year, the highest an Australian man has reached since Lleyton Hewitt in 2006. No local has won men’s singles at Melbourne Park since 1976. These two forces have conspired to elevate expectation on the 25-year-old. “No one is going to put more pressure on myself than myself,” he said. “It’s perspective, right? It’s what way you choose to look at pressure.”.
