Oz Demon faces devil of job against Rafa
Alex de Minaur is a scrawny teen who only just got his driver’s licence — but he plays full throttle and is winning a nation’s heart.
Australia’s love affair with de Minaur — nicknamed Demon — went up a notch after a fighting five-set drama brought a mouth-watering clash against Rafael Nadal today.
The 19-year-old Sydneysider had to dig deep to topple Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen to set up a showdown with Nadal.
Australian sports lovers are lapping up the fresh-faced youngster who passed his driver’s licence only late last year.
“It’s a different position for me, a position I’m not really used to,” said de Minaur, of his new-found fame. “It’s sort of come out of nowhere. It’s been an unbelievable year. I’m enjoying every second of it.
“I’m just trying to focus on myself, on going out there on court and competing, having fun. Nothing has changed for me.”
Six months after being handed a grand slam lesson by Nadal, de Minaur will aim to turn the tables on the Spanish great. Nadal walloped the teenager 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in their maiden meeting at Wimbledon last year.
“Whenever he steps out on court, he always has that presence. No one can take that away from him,” de Minaur said of the 17-time grand slam winner. “I’ve just got to go out there, try to focus on my side of the court, generally just go out there, have fun. Hopefully take it to him.”
Seeded 27 after only cracking the world’s top hundred last June, de Minaur has enjoyed a meteoric rankings rise, and is on a seven-game winning streak that included his first ATP title in Sydney.
He has been so impressive, tennis legend John McEnroe paid him the ultimate compliment — calling him grand slam champion in the making.
McEnroe ranked de Minaur alongside Nadal, Jimmy Connors, Michael Chang and Lleyton Hewitt as one of the most ferociously competitive players tennis has ever seen.
“There’s very few guys that come along that play with that intensity, that effort that Alex de Minaur plays with,” the former world No 1 told Channel Nine. “So they [his rivals] are intimidated by a guy who goes out and gives that all-out 100 per cent every single point like it’s the last point.”
McEnroe believes de Minaur’s best chance of advancing to the last 16 — given his gruelling workload of seven matches in the past 10 days — rests with Nadal’s battered body breaking down again.
On Wednesday night, de Minaur looked in danger when Laaksonen came from two sets down to force the round two match into a deciding set but de Minaur rallied for a 6-4 6-2 6-7 (9-7) 4-6 6-3 triumph in three hours and 52 minutes.
While compatriots Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic have attracted negative headlines after round one Melbourne Park exits, de Minaur has garnered support with his fighting spirit.
“Every time I step out on court, I leave 150 per cent out there. That’s the bare minimum,” he said. “You want the players in the locker room to know you as that kid that fights ‘til the end, has that never-say-die attitude.”
De Minaur is still getting used to the spotlight that comes with being Australia’s top-ranked male player but says he keeps a low-key routine. “I still go have an acai bowl in the morning. I do the same things a 19-year-old kid would do,” he said.
Nadal wouldn’t be taking his younger opponent lightly.
“He’s a great player, young, playing with big confidence after winning matches. It will be a tough one,” the 31-year-old said.
De Minaur, who spent time growing up in Spain, said he recalled watching Nadal win his sole Australian Open on television in 2009.
“I think this is what you play for, to
There’s very few guys that come along that play with that intensity, that effort that Alex de Minaur plays with.
John McEnroe
play the biggest guys and the best guys at the top of their level on the biggest stages,” he said.
Yesterday, Kei Nishikori joked about it later, saying he faced more aces in one match from Ivo Karlovic than he himself would serve in a year.
Eighth-seeded Nishikori withstood 59 aces from Karlovic, and had to save three break points in a crucial 10th game of the fifth set, before beating the 39-year-old Croatian 6-3 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 5-7 7-6 (9-7) to reach the third round of the Australian Open.
“That’s almost my one-year aces,” Nishikori joked of Karlovic’s serve. “Never easy. Kind of frustrating if you can’t get the serve like three in a row.”
Milos Raonic was either one or two points from dropping each of the sets he eventually grabbed on the way to edging 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka 6-7 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (13-11) 7-6 (7-5). The 16th-seeded Raonic, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2016, hit 39 aces in the four-hour thriller.
US Open champion Naomi Osaka is through after beating Tamara Zidansek 6-2 6-4.