De Minaur aiming for Aus Open first but Alex Michelsen stands in his way

Alex de Minaur is no stranger to this stage. As the world No. 8, he is preparing for his fourth consecutive appearance in the Australian Open's round of 16, fully aware of what is at stake. A quarterfinal spot is within reach, a stage de Minaur has yet to achieve at this event. However, he has reached the quarterfinals multiple times in other Grand Slam tournaments, including last year's French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon.

On his path to the fourth round in Melbourne, de Minaur comfortably won his first two matches, but faced a scare in a tough four-set match against Francisco Cerundolo on Saturday. Now, de Minaur is aiming to reach the quarterfinals, and standing in his way is a player he describes as "dangerous."

Alex Michelsen, a 20-year-old American unseeded player, did not receive much attention at the start of the Australian Open, but he has fought his way to the fourth round. He defeated 11th seed and 2023 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round, then ended the impressive run of Australian wildcard James McCabe in the second round. On Saturday, he once again surprised his opponents by eliminating 19th seed Karen Khachanov with a score of 6-3, 7-6(7/5), 6-2, achieving his best result in a Grand Slam event.

His match against de Minaur is further heightened by the fact that they first faced off in the Los Cabos tournament last February, where Michelsen defeated de Minaur in straight sets on a hard court. Months later, de Minaur avenged his loss by sweeping Michelsen 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 on the clay courts of the French Open first round. De Minaur is wary of his young opponent, knowing Michelsen will be full of confidence after defeating two top-20 players in the past week. "I've played Michelsen twice," de Minaur said at Melbourne Park over the weekend. "He won once, I won once. Two different matches. One on clay, one on hard. He's playing some great tennis. He's a dangerous opponent full of confidence right now. He's had some big wins this week, so I'm ready for a battle. He's going to come out swinging. I'm going to try to make it as tough as possible for him."

Michelsen's Australian Open journey is no fluke; he has worked hard to reach this point. Even last year, he was still competing in second-tier Challenger events in Italy, Portugal, and the UK. Currently ranked No. 42 in the ATP rankings, Michelsen believes his second-week appearance in Melbourne is a reward for his efforts both on and off the court. "I feel like I've put in a lot of work over the past three or four years," he said. "I've been grinding every day." The winner of Monday night's match will have no time to rest, as they will face either world No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner or 13th seed Holger Rune in the quarterfinals.