Alcaraz Overcomes De Minaur’s Early Charge to Book Australian Open Semi-Final Spot

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, defeating Alex De″Minaur 7-5, 6-2, 6-1. The game took 136 minutes on Rod Laver Arena. The Spanish sensation now only has two victories to his inaugural Australian Open championship and a career grand slam.

De Minaur started the match very energetically, and the opening set lasted over an hour. Alcaraz matched De Minaur shot for shot. It was an opportunity to witness a home-grown player win as De Minaur had the speed, grit, and precision, which propelled him to a career-high world No. 6 ranking.

Alcaraz Takes Control

Despite the pressure De Minaur applied early, Alcaraz gradually took control of the match. He took the initial three games of every set by striking powerful groundstrokes and a reliable serve, chipping De Minaur down progressively. De Minaur nearly ruined the rhythm of the first set, tying twice, but a lapse in De Minaur’s serve allowed Alcaraz to close out the set without a tiebreak.

Following the same, the game went strongly in Alcaraz. He gained early leads in the second and third sets, pulling away and leaving De Minaur scrambling, trying to get points deep at the other end of the baseline.

Reflecting on the turning point, Alcaraz said, “I started the match really well, hitting the ball really well in just two games, I made like seven or ten winners, so it was a great, great level.”
He added, “But Alex makes you [feel like] you are in a rush all the time, so you want to hit the ball as hard as you can every ball, which is impossible against him. From 3-0 until 4-3, I was in a rush, but I took a moment, took a break.”

History and What Lies Ahead

The defeat means De Minaur becomes the third player in the Open era, after Andrey Rublev and Tommy Robredo, to lose his first seven grand slam quarter-finals.

Alcaraz, meanwhile, advances to face Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals. The pair is evenly split with six wins each from 12 meetings. Looking ahead, the Spaniard said, “We have to play tactically really, really well, so it’s going to be a great battle,” before adding, “I’m really looking forward to playing him again here, taking the revenge.”

At 22, Alcaraz now stands on the brink of becoming the youngest man to complete a career grand slam, should he go all the way in Melbourne.