Wednesday Feb 25, 2026
Wednesday Feb 25, 2026
Wednesday, 28 January 2026 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Carlos Alcaraz
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz is within two victories of a career grand slam after piling more major pain on home hope Alex de Minaur in a largely straightforward Australian Open quarter-final victory, secured 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 in 136 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
The heavily anticipated clash delivered a sensational first set in which De Minaur looked a peer of the world No 1. However, Alcaraz took control beyond the one-hour mark, leaving the last Australian in the singles draw helpless, exasperated and pacing behind the baseline between points.
De Minaur is now the third man in the Open era, after Andrey Rublev and Tommy Robredo, to lose his first seven grand slam quarter-finals. He walked off the court downtrodden, and his mood hadn’t lifted by the time he spoke to press half an hour later.
“It doesn’t feel amazing, I’ll tell you that,” he said. “You try to do the right things, you try and keep on improving, but when the results don’t come, or the scoreline doesn’t reflect those improvements, then of course you feel quite deflated.”
Alcaraz won the first three games of each set, and while the Australian found a revival in the first frame, the Spaniard’s serve and groundstrokes wore down De Minaur’s valiant but ultimately helpless defence.
The No 1 seed said his level has been increasing as the tournament goes on, but he admitted he was tested in that first set. “I started the match really well, hitting really well the ball,” he said. “But Alex makes you [feel like] you are in a rush all all the time, so you want to hit the ball as hard as you can every 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.”
From there, Alcaraz produced a formidable display, leaving De Minaur exposed as a wannabe on the world stage. “There was some good parts out there, but overall I’m playing out of my comfort zone and at times out of my skin,” the Australian said, adding he must tweak his normally flat groundstrokes if he is to ever compete with Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“They’ve got so many revolutions on the ball that they’re able to not only play at a higher speed, but also have that consistency because they’re able to get that spin that helps the ball come down, and create different angles as well.”
