
Alex de Minaur secured his first-ever Australian Open quarter-final appearance last night, defeating the talented young American Alex Michelsen in straight sets.
But how did de Minaur pick apart the 20-year-old who took out Stefanos Tsitsipas and Karen Khachanov en route to the fourth-round?
The First Serve break down three key areas that saw Australia's No.1 player make his fourth straight Grand Slam quarter-final.
Exposed Michelsen's movement
Although Michelsen’s game has plenty of weapons, his movement isn’t one of them.
De Minaur looked to expose that by mixing up play on nearly every point - particularly in the opening set.
He barely gave the young American the same ball twice, meaning Michelsen couldn’t sit from a comfortable position in a point and dictate play on his terms.
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The movement of de Minaur is one of his biggest weapons and this only added fuel to the fire.
In a match of all-court rallies, the difference was quite remarkable with de Minaur winning 27 points in the first set to Michelsen’s 13.
This was despite getting just 33 per cent first serves in during the opener.
Pile on the pressure
Not only was Michelsen needing to move more than he had in the opening rounds, but de Minaur’s relentless pressure was also a factor.
The Australian’s movement is one of his biggest strengths and made the night difficult for Michelsen.
He was unable to hit through his opponent as easily with de Minaur constantly making him hit more balls than expected.
This saw Michelsen overplay his weapons and pile up the unforced errors.
He made 50 unforced errors in the match for just 23 winners.
In previous matches, his winner count was between 30 and 45 and was comfortably in front of his errors.
This compared to de Minaur’s 23 unforced errors to 28 winners during the match, also evident in the rally length.
In other wins at this Australian Open, Michelsen dominated rallies between 5-8 shots.
In Michelsen's match against Khachanov for example, he won those points 27-15.
This indicates settling into a point where he dictated play and eventually ripped a winner or forced an error from his opponent.
While in the match against de Minaur, he lost those points 36-11.
Interestingly when the rally length was nine shots or more, the American won more points against the Aussie (18-15).
Experience
Alex de Minaur has played Rod Laver Arena countless times over the years while this was just the second time for his opponent.
It was also the first time Michelsen had played a fourth-round match compared to the Aussie’s 11 times.
That experience showed at key moments throughout the match.
In the first set, de Minaur jumped him and it took far too long for the American to recover.
After being broken early, Michelsen looked lost.
Rushing points and panicking, he tried everything from drop shots (against the game’s best mover) to attacking the net on poor approaches.
He almost went down two breaks in the second set before eventually settling and mounting a challenge.
However, by then, almost half the match was over and so were the American’s chances.
Even when he came back in the second set, with a more sustainable attack forcing de Minaur to be more defensive, it always felt the Australian’s experience would see him through.
Once that set was lost, the belief and the fight were almost entirely gone.
What’s next?
De Minaur now faces world No.1 Jannick Sinner for a place in his first-ever semi-final.
While many will rate his chances, he will certainly need to improve some aspects of his game - particularly on serve.
He made just 42 per cent of first serves for the match, something that will just not cut it against the defending champion.
But, for now, de Minaur can enjoy being the first Aussie to make the quarters in Melbourne since Nick Kyrgios in 2015.
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