Demon setting sights higher
ALEX de Minaur is determined to propel his ranking back where he feels he belongs after reaching the third round and matching his career-best Australian Open performance.
Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak, like de Minaur a former top-10 junior, was unable to mount a fight against Australia’s topranked man, who broke his rival early in each set en route to a 6-4 6-4 6-2 success.
It’s the 22-year-old’s third time in the round of 32 at Melbourne Park but first time winning on Rod Laver Arena.
“It’s a special feeling – biggest court in Australia, home slam,” de Minaur said.
“The last match I played there was against Rafa a couple of years back, and that was a surreal experience as well.
“For me to be able to play on that court and at this stage be on my own merits – it’s not because I’m playing one of the top guys – that’s a pretty cool feeling … hopefully it’s the first (win) of many.”
Higher on his list of priorities is restoring a ranking that peaked at No.15 mid-last year but has dipped to 42 after a bout of Covid-19 that cost him his Tokyo Olympics spot.
The lingering after-effects of the virus also zapped him of his usual energy on court for an extended period afterwards.
But No.32 seed de Minaur has returned to his best in the past three weeks.
There was a season-opening upset of top-10 Italian Matteo Berrettini at the ATP Cup, along with another over tough Frenchman Ugo Humbert before he skipped the Sydney Tennis Classic.
That owed to a dedicated training regimen that began almost instantly after Australia was bundled out of the Davis Cup in December.
“I knew myself that I had to put in the hard work, so when you step on the match court, in the back of your head, you’ve got that confidence going in,” he said. “To see the results (after that) is a huge confidence-booster.
“Ranking-wise, goals-wise, that’s probably something that I like to keep very close to myself, my team (but) I really think I should be back higher in the rankings, so that’s a main goal obviously.”
De Minaur will need to defeat Spanish veteran Pablo Andujar, who won their only prior clash in 2018, to advance to the fourth round for the first time.