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Preamble
G’day and welcome to the 42C furnace that is the Australian Open – day 10 night session!
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, has anything changed for Alex de Minaur as he heads into his seventh grand slam quarter-final with a 0-6 record, plus a 0-5 head-to-head against Carlos Alcaraz?
Well, yes, a few things have. Australia’s main man is at a career-high world ranking of No 6 and he’s playing arguably the best and most aggressive tennis we’ve ever seen from him, having added a bit more punch to a game that was already packed with formidable foot speed and fight.
“I got tired of the narrative big hitters can take the racket out of my hands,” De Minaur said after destroying Alexander Bublik in the last 16. “I’ve been constantly wanting to get to, when I’m playing big hitters, not be a punching bag, and show I can go toe-to-toe with them and dictate. The last couple of matches is some of the best ball striking I’ve had.”
But … Alcaraz still boasts more power than De Minaur. But … Alcaraz hasn’t stood still either and is raising the bar in men’s tennis to astonishing levels, along with Jannik Sinner, slam by slam. But … Alcaraz is only three match wins from becoming the youngest man to complete a career slam. But, but, but; there so are many of them.
To put it another way, De Minaur probably has about a 25% chance of beating the world No 1. But – and perhaps this is the biggest but of all in the Australian’s eyes - as long as there is a chance, De Minaur will believe he can do it, and will leave absolutely everything out there, as he has his entire career.
For Svitolina it’s a similar story. The Ukrainian is a supreme athlete with a huge heart who’s attempting to break new ground having reached 13 previous major quarter-finals and three semis without taking the next step. At 31, she’s a whole decade older than her opponent Coco Gauff, the reigning French Open champion, but she’s playing some of the tennis of her life and will be determined not to let this opportunity pass her by.
Gauff and Svitolina will be on court: at about 7pm Melbourne time/8am GMT, with Alcaraz v De Minaur to follow. Don’t go anywhere!
