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Alex De Minaur infamously lost his first 18 matches to top-five opposition, helping create an unwanted narrative that he was a good player who would always fall short against the tour\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n
But then everything changed: he beat world No.3 Daniil Medvedev \u2013 who had just taken down a series of stars to win in Vienna \u2013 in November last year at the Paris Masters.<\/p>\n
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Alex de Minaur celebrates his progression at the US Open.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWhy do it in the first 18, eh?\u201d de Minaur mused afterwards.<\/p>\n De Minaur has since secured three more such wins: over Rafael Nadal at this year\u2019s United Cup, Andrey Rublev at Rotterdam in February, then Medvedev again only a few weeks ago in Toronto on his way to reaching his first Masters 1000 final.<\/p>\n Speaking to this masthead during his Toronto run, de Minaur explained just how significant that Paris result was.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s extremely satisfying [to beat the world\u2019s best], and it\u2019s one of the things I\u2019m most proud of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt all started at the end of last year, when I finally was able to get my first top-five scalp in Medvedev in Paris, and from then, it opened a lot of doors and possibilities, and gave me belief that I could do this.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means I\u2019m doing the right things, and getting closer to what I\u2019ve always been trying to accomplish. I\u2019ve been there in these situations where I win a lot of matches throughout the year, but when it comes to the bigger tournaments \u2013 I haven\u2019t been able to perform the way I wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n It is fitting, then, that Medvedev is in the gritty Sydneysider\u2019s way once more, in the last 16 at the US Open, as he hunts a career-best grand slam result.<\/p>\n De Minaur\u2019s sole major quarter-final was also in New York three years ago, but there is an asterisk because it was at the height of COVID-19 and not all the best players competed at that US Open.<\/p>\n Three of his four wins that fortnight were against players ranked 51 or worse \u2013 two of them in the 90s \u2013 although he did fight back from two-sets-to-one down in the third round to dispatch 16th-ranked Karen Khachanov.<\/p>\n It would be a far greater achievement if de Minaur does it again in the days to come.<\/p>\n Medvedev, the 2021 US Open winner and a former world No.1, is still ranked the third-best men\u2019s player, behind Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. It would be de Minaur\u2019s greatest scalp.<\/p>\n His fourth-round losses at majors were to Grigor Dimitrov (2019 US Open), Jannik Sinner (2022 Australian Open), Cristian Garin (2022 Wimbledon) \u2013 from two sets up \u2013 and Djokovic (2023 Australian Open).<\/p>\n De Minaur\u2019s 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 demolition of giant Chilean Nicolas Jarry, the No.23 seed, to earn his last-16 spot at this US Open on Sunday was a wonderful illustration of his new and improved self. Jarry\u2019s no joke: he\u2019s cut down Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alex Zverev and Tommy Paul this year.<\/p>\n That followed de Minaur dropping only four games in a straight-sets shellacking of China\u2019s Wu Yibing a round earlier. He sits at a career-high No.11 in the live rankings, but could go up or down in the next week depending on results.<\/p>\n At 183 centimetres and 69 kilograms, de Minaur knows he cannot blow rivals away like his oversized, master-blaster peers. There will be times, as at Wimbledon this year against Matteo Berrettini, that he will be overpowered.<\/p>\n A look at his service statistics across the years show no great spike in winning percentage, but he offered a glimpse into how he has evolved in his comments after the Jarry triumph.<\/p>\n \u201cThe game plan against someone like Jarry, who\u2019s got such big weapons, is to try to neutralise him and find a healthy balance between kind of pushing the ball and still being somewhat aggressive without missing,\u201d de Minaur said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I found that line today \u2013 and it was great just to keep applying that pressure. If he wanted to win, he was going to have to come up with some amazing winners, and it didn\u2019t discourage me.\u201d<\/p>\n De Minaur broke the South American six times, saved the solitary break point on his own serve and won a staggering 85 per cent of points after landing his first delivery.<\/p>\n At age 24, de Minaur is climbing out of mentor Lleyton Hewitt\u2019s sizeable shadow, and at the peak of his powers at a time compatriot Nick Kyrgios has played only once this year due to injuries.<\/p>\n He is Australia\u2019s Davis Cup figurehead and at the forefront of the country\u2019s uprising on the men\u2019s side.<\/p>\n Wildcard Rinky Hijikata\u2019s surprise run into the last 16, where he faces big-striking American Frances Tiafoe, means there will be nine Australian men inside the top 100 after the US Open.<\/p>\n That number does not include Kyrgios, who is projected to fall deep into the 400s as his absence continues \u2013 but a protected ranking of No.21 and a likely bevy of wildcards will aid him once he is fit again.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s competitiveness on the world stage, much like de Minaur\u2019s former top-five record, is rarely given credit because fans more often associate success with deep grand slam runs.<\/p>\n Kyrgios did that in advancing to last year\u2019s Wimbledon final, and boasts three other major quarter-finals on his resume, but de Minaur is on the precipice of doing something special himself.<\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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