Alex de Minaur is into the second round of the Australian Open, having excelled in his return to hometown action.
The 26-year-old was initially pitted to play against Matteo Berrettini, before injury curtailed his campaign.
This wiped out a really tough first round for the Aussie, who was instead gifted the opportunity to face Mackenzie McDonald on Rod Laver Arena.
He was not to be denied, claiming a routine 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory before speaking on-court.
Every word of Alex de Minaur’s on-court interview at Australian Open
He began by rating his level and sending a message to the crowd, briefly noting: “It’s always a nervy start starting an Australian Open playing at home, so I’m extremely happy with that performance, happy to be through to the next round. Thank you, guys, as always. Let’s hope I can play many, many, many more matches here.”
Alex de Minaur then sought to rate the conditions in Melbourne, admitting: “Yeah, I mean, historically, I play pretty well here in Australia, so I enjoy the conditions.
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“It’s quite quick. When the sun’s out like today, the conditions are pretty fast, the ball flies through the air. It kind of helps my serve a little bit, get a little bit more oomph on it and a couple more free points, and yeah, I mean, I’ve got the crowd behind me as well, so it’s a win-win.”
Courier was then keen to find out more about his mindset, and whether he is content with his current world ranking of sixth.
Naturally, De Minaur wants more: “Oh, sadly, I’ve got kind of that tunnel vision of I want more every single time.
“So I am working to enjoy a little bit more and appreciate the journey and where I’ve come from, where I am right now, giving myself a little bit of a pat on the back, but at the same time, I want more, so the plan is to go for more, keep on improving, keep pushing, and yeah, hopefully six isn’t my career high ranking.”
He finished by assessing his upcoming opponent, Hamad Medjedovic: “Well, he is extremely talented. He’s got a lot of firepower.
“We’ve seen he’s already taken some big scalps in his career. Got big groundstrokes, so it’s going to be up to me to try and neutralise him as much as I can and hopefully not be a punching bag for it.”
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It has been a great start to the year for the new world number six, with this latest victory adding to a fine first month of 2026.
After all, De Minaur overtook a Rafael Nadal record just last week, and will have grand aspirations of continuing this form throughout the Australian Open.
The Australian superstar has been a mainstay at the apex of the men’s game for many years now, and of late has started to mix with the elite in terms of ranking.
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However, his inability to surpass the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner has always capped his progression at these Grand Slams.
He will have to tackle the former of that formidable duo if he is to surpass the quarter-finals this year, which marks his best-ever run at the Australian Open.
