Blink and you miss It: Demon advances to his sixth Grand Slam quarter-final
- Brett Phillips
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Sun shining, Louis Armstrong Stadium the setting, an Aussie on a mission, and before everyone was really getting settled in for the day, Alex de Minaur was back in the lockeroom a winner.
In just over an hour and a half, the 26-year-old dispensed of Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 to reach his sixth Grand Slam quarter-final and third in New York City.
"Super proud of what I’m doing and ultimately this is where I want to be. I want to be playing for the big titles. I want to be in contention. I'm putting myself in the right places. I've got another great opportunity coming up in the quarter-finals. I'm gonna go out there, have a swing and hopefully have some amazing crowd support like today," de Minaur said.
His record at the majors in 2025 stands at 12-3, no one has more hardcourt wins in 2025 (28) and his dominance over players outside the top 50 on a hardcourt continues, now 26-1.
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His opponent suffered under the de Minaur suffocation spell and whilst Riedi was able to break the Aussie twice in the match, he wasn't allowed to get any reward, as in true Alex fashion he upped the ante on return to break back and overall broke the young Swiss serve eight times in the match.
Whilst you can't argue the draw has worked out very well for de Minaur at this stage, it could prove as favourable as he eyes a first Grand Slam semi-final. When the draw came out, it was world No.3 Alexander Zverev who was the projected quarter-final match up (2-8 defecit for Alex) but his exit at the hands of former world No.6 and 2021 US Open semi-finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime, opened up the possibilities.
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And that is who he will play, with FAA defeating Andrey Rublev in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in the round of 16. The Canadian leads the head to head 2-1 against De Minaur, but the Demon won their last encounter on the Rome clay last year in three sets.
This is the best chance that he has ever been presented with to make a Slam semi for the first time. The level is there, the laser focus is there, the desire has always been there and in New York City in Alicia Keys words "the concrete jungle where dreams are made of”, the demon certainly has the belief that anything is possible.
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