The Australian Open title could be really big for Carlos Alcaraz or Alex de Minaur. Alcaraz will complete his career Grand Slam if he wins next Sunday. De Minaur will be the first Australian since 1976 to lift the trophy in Melbourne.
For both, however, just getting through to the semi-finals Down Under would mark a career-best achievement. That’s right; Alcaraz has never made it past the quarterfinals of this tournament. De Minaur is 0-6 lifetime in Grand Slam quarterfinals (0-1 at Aussie Open).
In other words, their sixth meeting wouldn’t be too big. And their head-to-head history couldn’t be worse for De Minaur. All of the past five games have gone Alcaraz’s way, including three last season. The top-ranked Spanish player won 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the title match in Rotterdam, 7-5, 6-3 in the quarters in Barcelona, and 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the Nitto ATP final.
Both players have impressed so far in these two days. Alcaraz booked his place in a third straight Aussie Open quarterfinal by defeating Adam Walton, Yannick Hanfmann, Corentin Moutet, and Tommy Paul in straight sets. De Minaur outlasted Mackenzie McDonald, Hamad Medjedovic, Frances Tiafoe, and Alexander Bublik while dropping a set to Medjedovic in the tiebreaker.
Unfortunately for the world No. 6, this was a bad matchup for him — and not an easy one in this situation. Even as a heavy underdog, there is a lot of pressure on De Minaur (especially in front of the home crowd) to finally get past this Grand Slam quarterfinal hurdle. What’s more, Alcaraz is likely to be the only player on the tour to defend alongside De Minaur – and it’s clear the 22-year-old brings a lot of firepower to the table.
De Minaur is playing well enough and always competes hard to be competitive, but Alcaraz has good reasons to take care of business on Tuesday.
Pick: Alcaraz at 4
