Alex de Minaur has declared he’s at his fighting best as he got his Australian Open campaign off to a flyer, sending dangerous Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp packing.
Hunting a maiden major title, de Minaur lived up to his star billing as the top-ranked local, needing only 26 minutes to claim the first set on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday night before disposing of his highly-rated rival 6-1 7-5 6-4.
He then headed straight to cheer his fiancee, British 22nd seed Katie Boulter, to a hard-fought victory over Canadian Rebecca Marino 6-4 3-6 7-5.
The eighth seed will start a huge favourite in the second round when he meets grand slam debutant, American qualifier Tristan Boyer.
The world No.136 out-lasted Argentine Federico Coria 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 7-5 6-1 earlier in the night.
After being hindered by a serious hip issue for much of 2024, De Minaur said his body was the best he’d felt for a long time.
“The body is exactly where I wanted it to be,” the 25-year-old said.
“I’ve put in countless hours over the better part of six months to get to this point and I’m feeling good, feeling comfortable moving, sliding from one side to the other and not really thinking about my hip.
“The body feels great – it’s been a long time since it’s felt this good – that’s obviously an incredible positive.”
De Minaur didn’t have it all his own way with Van de Zandschulp blowing two set points in the second set, but the crowd favourite showed his customary grit to stay on task.
He then broke his opponent and wrapped up the set with an ace.
While now ranked a lowly 82nd in the world, Van de Zandschulp ousted four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz from last year’s US Open and has been as high as No.22 before being hindered by injuries.
The pair went toe to toe in the third set with Van de Zandschulp showing off his athleticism and racquet skills to stay in the fight against the “speed demon”.
At 1-1 and 40-40 the big Dutchman had the crowd on their feet and earned the applause of the Sydneysider with an incredulous tweener that proved a cross-court winner.
Gunning to become the first men’s local champion since Mark Edmondson in 1976, de Minaur got the break of serve to go ahead 5-4 to put victory in sight.
He sealed the win in style, nailing his 13th ace of the match.
Should the 25-year-old make the Open quarter-finals for the first time, after falling in round four on his past three visits, he is likely to strike world No.1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner.
