Alex de Minaur stuns tennis world again in takedown of Carlos Alcaraz before Aus Open

Alex de Minaur is proving why he is a serious threat at this year's Australian Open having once again taken down a major rival in Carlos Alcaraz, albeit in an action-packed exhibition match. De Minaur has already taken down Taylor Fritz, World No.1 Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in thrilling encounters during Australia's epic United Cup run.

De Minaur created history having become the first male Aussie to reach the top 10 since Lleyton Hewitt in 2006. This is off the back of his brilliant hard court form at the end of 2023.

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And now, de Minaur has shown off his strong form in an exciting win over Alcaraz in front of a packed crowd on Rod Laver Arena. While de Minaur has been in full swing ahead of the Australian Open, this was Alcaraz's first hit against an opponent in nearly two months.

However, the Spaniard started strongly and broke de Minaur. The Aussie rallied and the duo showed off their athleticism with some brilliant baseline rallies that had Rod Laver Arena on their feet.

The exhibition match was levelled at one set-all before a super tiebreak decided the contest. And match point summed up the match with de Minaur and Alcaraz were running all over the court and both were brought to the net, before de Minaur hit the winning forehand to seal the victory.

Both met at the net and shared a smile and embrace as the crowd rose to their feet to congratulate the two for an exciting exhibition. After the match, de Minaur admitted he was feeling confident ahead of the first grand slam of the year with a huge power difference on both his forehand and serve proving to be a new weapon in 2024. Both players were praised for their level of tennis ahead of the Australian Open main card draw.

Alex de Minaur confident ahead of Australian Open

De Minaur admitted he was thrilled with his form so far in 2024 and was ready for the grand slam. “I’m extremely happy … my level is in a good spot coming into Melbourne. 2024 has been very good to me, hopefully I can keep it going," de Minaur said after his clash with Alcaraz.

Hewitt was on hand to watch the match against Alcaraz and admitted time out on Rod Laver Arena on the faster courts of Melbourne was invaluable to de Minaur's preparation for the Australian Open. “It’s probably a little bit quicker than Sydney (during the United Cup) here at the moment, so that’s kind of what he’s getting to feel out here tonight,” Hewitt told Channel Nine.

“You’d imagine he’s going to play quite a few matches, hopefully he can go deep in this tournament on this particular court and surface.” As fore Alcaraz, he will head into the Australian Open as one of the strong favourites behind Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz one his first Wimbledon title last year, but his form tailed off at the end of last year after a gruelling season. However, Alcaraz will look to build his way into the Australian Open having opted to play less games heading into the first grand slam of the year. Both players will learn their draw on Thursday with Alcaraz seeded No.2 and De Minaur in the top 10.

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