Alex de Minaur's massive call on Australian Open hopes amid 48-year tennis drought

Alex de Minaur believes he can make a deep run at this year's Australian Open and hopes he can become the first Australian man in 48 years to go all the way at Melbourne Park. De Minaur showcased just how good he can be on Monday night when he brushed aside world No.10 Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-2 at the United Cup in Perth, helping Australia to secure a quarter-final berth.

In 2023, the 24-year-old claimed five top-10 scalps and also won his seventh ATP Tour title. Yet the domination of the American showed he's gained a ruthlessness to his game that has sent expectations skyrocketing.

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Ash Barty ended Australia's 44-year Australian Open women's title drought when she lifted the trophy in 2022. But Australia's men are without a title since Mark Edmondson's 1976 triumph.

De Minaur has shown glimpses of joining the tennis elite since bursting onto the scene and is aiming to better his fourth-round appearances at Melbourne Park in 2022 and 2023. He says his focus ahead of January was to beef up physically to help him reach the next level.

"When you look at me play, the one thing that stands out, it's probably my speed, right?" de Minaur said. "Sometimes I rely a little bit too much on my speed and I don't use the other areas of my game, which can be very dangerous.

"(But) I can also use my speed to take time away to come to the net, to steal a lot of points at the net and be aggressive. I've got a lot of different weapons that sometimes I forget to use and I don't bring out. To take it to the next level (I need) to bring these extra weapons out for the matches."

De Minaur's confidence reaches new high after Fritz win

The Aussies' demolition of Fritz has resulted in him starting to believe a first major is within reach and believes he can bring home the Australian Open crown when the season-opening grand slam starts on Sunday week. "If I can bring this sort of level, then there's no reason why I can't go out and have a deep run," de Minaur said. "That's the goal.

"I bring this level often in practice. Maybe not as often on the match court, but I do know that I'm capable of at this level. Top 10 (players) in the world, they do this week after week. That's the secret.

"That's what they do. They don't do it just in practice; they do it in matches as well. I'm very close to where I want to be but it's about showing this side of myself as often as I can."

- with AAP

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