{"id":439257,"date":"2026-01-26T20:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/439257\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T20:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:54:10","slug":"australian-open-quarterfinalist-alex-de-minaur-confident-he-can-compete-against-carlos-alcaraz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/439257\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open quarterfinalist Alex de Minaur confident he can compete against Carlos Alcaraz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tommy Paul is not the first \u2014 nor will he be the last \u2014 to walk away from a match against Carlos Alcaraz feeling helpless and exasperated.<\/p>\n

“The way that I would describe it is, he (Alcaraz) kind of suffocates you in a way,” Paul said after his straight-sets loss to the top seed at the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

“He makes you feel like you have no time. He rushes you.”<\/p>\n

Paul’s assessment will not come as a surprise to Alex de Minaur, who takes on Alcaraz in a blockbuster quarterfinal this evening.<\/p>\n

De Minaur knows what it is like to play the world number one and feel as though he had no say in how the match played out.<\/p>\n

They have met five times on tour, with Alcaraz victorious on each occasion, although they have never faced off at a major.<\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/p>\n

Alex de Minaur lost to Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s Rotterdam final. (Getty Images\/BRS Agency: Joris Verwijst)<\/p>\n

De Minaur has noted how well Alcaraz has played so far this tournament, with the Spaniard yet to drop a set.<\/p>\n

“In the past, he’s maybe had times where he’s maybe been able to give you a couple of cheap points here and there, and kind of let opponents get into the match,” de Minaur said.<\/p>\n

“He’s been working on that. So he’s going to only make it harder.”<\/p>\n

In de Minaur’s favour, however, is the self-belief he has developed on the back of producing a rich vein of form at Melbourne Park.<\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/p>\n

Alex de Minaur has been in superb form at Melbourne Park. (AP: Dita Alangkara)<\/p>\n

The world number six has only dropped one set en route to a second consecutive quarterfinal appearance, with his fourth-round win over 10th seed Alexander Bublik the highlight of his run to the last eight.<\/p>\n

Bublik has weapons in his game, but they misfired against a relentless de Minaur, who triumphed 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in just over 90 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.<\/p>\n

“For me, it just comes down to I’m going to have to bring some of my best tennis, right?” de Minaur explained after defeating Bublik on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n

“That’s what it’s going to take to get into the match and make it difficult for him, and extend this match as much as I can, and ultimately go out there to compete.”<\/p>\n

Extreme heat to play a role<\/p>\n

Today’s weather forecast in Melbourne may also be a factor in the outcome of the match.<\/p>\n

The temperature is expected to reach the low to mid-40s Celsius, which will likely see the Rod Laver Arena roof closed for the evening session.<\/p>\n

Two of de Minaur’s defeats to Alcaraz have come on indoor hardcourts, but the Australian is unconcerned about the prospect of playing under the lid.<\/p>\n

“I assume the roof will be closed,” de Minaur said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know for certain, but if the heat rule is in effect, it’s going to make it a little bit of an indoor match.<\/p>\n

“Hey, it is what it is. Once I rock up on Tuesday and I walk on court, you just deal with whatever’s in front of you.”<\/p>\n

\"Carlos<\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz has not dropped a set in his charge to the quarterfinals. (AP: Dita Alangkara)<\/p>\n

Alcaraz is similarly unfazed.<\/p>\n

“I have to control the things that I can control,” he said.<\/p>\n

“If it is going to be really, really hot on Tuesday and the roof is going to be closed, I’ve got to accept that and just try to play my best tennis indoors.<\/p>\n

“So whatever it is, I will be ready. I will be focused.”<\/p>\n

De Minaur will not be shocked to learn Alcaraz plans to be dialled in when they take to the court.<\/p>\n

Nor was Paul caught unaware when he was sent packing from the tournament, and the American knows what de Minaur is about to face.<\/p>\n

“That’s what the best players do every match,” Paul said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tommy Paul is not the first \u2014 nor will he be the last \u2014 to walk away from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[18278,64,63,6571,962,188599,83102,221809,130734,85,747],"class_list":["post-439257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-alex-de-minaur","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-open","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-melbourne-park","tag-quarterfinals","tag-rod-laver-arena","tag-roof","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}