Carlos Alcaraz continues his quest to become the youngest ever man to complete the career Grand Slam with a dominant straight-sets win against home hero Alex de Minaur in their Australian Open quarter-final.
Novak Djokovic’s chances of winning a record 25th Grand Slam title are increasingly becoming now or never. Are the stars aligning in Melbourne?
Dejected and deflated, where can Alex de Minaur turn after another sobering defeat to Carlos Alcaraz?
The sixth seed walked onto court to face the World No. 1 in the Australian Open quarter-finals having dropped just one set all fortnight. De Minaur had looked assured in straight-sets victories against Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Bublik, and from some corners of the tennis world there was quiet belief that the Australian might finally be able to trouble Alcaraz and improve on his 0-5 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the Spaniard.
For a brief spell, that belief felt justified. De Minaur matched Alcaraz’s intensity early and stayed competitive through a high-quality first set, energising the crowd inside Rod Laver Arena. But once the top seed moved ahead, the contest quickly tilted in familiar fashion. Alcaraz surged clear to seal a 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory in two hours and 15 minutes, once again exposing the gap De Minaur is still striving to close against the very best.
The result left the Australian No. 1 with more questions than answers, not about effort or intent, but about execution at the highest level.
“In terms of mentality or the way I committed to hitting the ball today, it’s what I set out to do. I just can’t really execute it. I didn’t really execute it for the whole match,” De Minaur said on his performance. “There was some good parts out there, but overall, I’m playing out of my comfort zone and at times out of my skin.
“Of course, for me to take that next step, I’ve got to be comfortable in playing that sort of way for the whole match, and that’s what it takes, to take it to the next level, especially against these types of guys.”
De Minaur has now exited at the quarter-final stage of a major on seven occasions, losing six times and withdrawing once through injury. While the 26-year-old believes he is moving closer to his peak level, sustaining it across an entire match against the very best remains the challenge.
“You just keep practising, keep working at it, keep getting to the stage of committing and playing at that level more frequently,” De Minaur said on how he makes the next breakthrough. “Then some tweaks here and there that’s going to allow me to increase ball speed, because at the moment the way my natural groundstrokes are, they’re quite flat, and it’s quite difficult for me.
“There is a whole lot of risk for me to play at a very high ball speed, and I feel like Jannik or Carlos, they have so many revolutions on the ball that they’re able to not only play at a higher speed but also have their consistency, because they’re able to get that spin that helps the ball come down and create different angles as well.”
Australia is proud, @alexdeminaur 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/8i3B4pHoWp
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2026
De Minaur has made significant progress in recent years. The 10-time tour-level titlist is competing at a career-high No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings and has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in each of the past two seasons. Yet he has been unable to make a notable impression against Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, losing all 19 matches contested between the two, a source of mounting frustration.
“You try to do the right things, you try to keep on improving, but when the results don’t come or the scoreline doesn’t reflect those improvements, then of course you feel quite deflated,” De Minaur said.
Alcaraz, who is aiming to complete the Career Grand Slam this fortnight, has yet to drop a set in Melbourne and has reached the semi-finals for the first time. De Minaur further acknowledged the challenge posed by the six-time major champion.
“I’m probably hitting the ball bigger than I’ve hit previously in these types of matches, but I’m still not able to kind of hit through him,” De Minaur said. “Then he’s obviously got the ability to generate on command. If you leave one ball short, then the point’s over. So he’s definitely playing at a very high level. I’ll be very intrigued to see how the rest of the tournament plays out.
“I do think he’s playing at a very high level. Ultimately, No. 1 in the world for a reason.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Coco Gauff calls for more privacy for players after she was filmed smashing a racquet after a devastating defeat by Elina Svitolina in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Carlos Alcaraz moved to within two wins of completing the Career Grand Slam on Tuesday at the Australian Open, where he powered into his first semi-final at Melbourne Park.
The World No. 1 absorbed and eventually neutralised the full force of Alex de Minaur’s newly sharpened attacking approach, sealing a statement 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory in front of a vibrant Rod Laver Arena crowd. Chasing his seventh major title — and his first in Melbourne — Alcaraz set up a semi-final clash with last year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev.
“I’m just really happy with the level that I’m playing every match, since the first round,” Alcaraz said. “I’ve been increasing my level each match. I was talking with my team about being patient, because I want all the things right now. But they told me to be patient, that the level will come. Today I felt really comfortable, playing great tennis, which I’m really proud about.”
FIRST AO SEMI-FINAL ✅@carlosalcaraz becomes the 8th Spanish man in history to reach the Australian Open semi-finals.
7-5, 6-2, 6-1 vs de Minaur.@AustralianOpen | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/9H5MRIiLmB
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 27, 2026
De Minaur offered a glimpse of the blueprint required to trouble the game’s elite, notably Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, but the contest ultimately underlined the gap that still exists at the highest level. Alcaraz struck with authority from the baseline, dictating play with conviction as he surged into the semi-finals without dropping a set.
This fortnight, the 22-year-old Spaniard is aiming to become just the sixth man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam, joining Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Rod Laver.
Following his fourth-round win over Alexander Bublik, De Minaur spoke candidly about his determination to avoid becoming a “punching bag” for the top players and to improve his ability to move opponents out of position. His speed and relentless defence have driven his rise to a career-high No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings, but his comments reflect the evolution required to challenge a new generation that has claimed the past eight major titles.
For a set, De Minaur delivered on that ambition. The opening set of the quarter-final featured five breaks of serve, with the Australian clawing back from deficits of 0-3 and 3-5 by stepping inside the court and playing on his own terms. That resistance, however, proved temporary.
“It’s really difficult,” Alcaraz said when asked about playing De Minaur. “I started the match really well, hitting the ball really well. But Alex puts you in a rush all the time, so you want to hit the ball as hard as you can, which is impossible against him. So from 3-0 until 4-3, 4-4, I wanted everything in a rush, so I took a moment, took a break mentally. I was more patient until the end of the match.”
[NO 1 CLUB]Alcaraz shifted gears decisively, suffocating the contest with relentless ball striking as he raced towards a two-hour, 15-minute victory. The win extended his Lexus ATP Head2Head advantage over De Minaur to 6-0, with the Australian having claimed just two sets across their rivalry, which began in 2022.
After quarter-final exits at Melbourne Park in 2024 and 2025, Alcaraz has now improved to a 16-4 record at the tournament, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Awaiting him in the last four is a rematch of his 2024 quarter-final against Zverev, which the German won in four sets.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic will continue their Australian Open campaigns on Wednesday when they take to court in quarter-final action.
The two-time defending champion Sinner will face eighth seed Ben Shelton in the next stage of his three-peat attempt at the hard-court major. The Italian, who has not lost in Melbourne since 2023, will open the evening session not before 7 p.m. AEDT / 3 a.m. EST. Sinner leads Shelton 8-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
View Wednesday’s schedule here
[NO 1 CLUB]Earlier in the day on Rod Laver Arena, record 10-time titlist Djokovic will meet Italian fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti, with the match not before 2:30 p.m. AEDT / 11:30 p.m. EST Wednesday. Djokovic will be aiming to earn his 103rd win at the major, surpassing Roger Federer as the outright leader for most victories in the tournament’s history.
If Sinner and Djokovic both advance, they will face off in the semi-finals on Friday.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Third seed Alexander Zverev thanks his serve for pulling him past an “unbelievable” Learner Tien to reach the Australian Open semi-finals.
Alexander Zverev advanced to his third consecutive Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday by ending the career-best major run of Learner Tien. The German, who reached his third Grand Slam final last year in Melbourne, battled to a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, 7-6(3) victory to keep alive his bid for a maiden major title.
With the Rod Laver Arena roof closed due to extreme heat, the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings controlled the match with powerful and consistent serving, hitting 24 aces, according to Infosys Stats. Zverev saved all three break points he faced with unreturned serves — including one that doubled as set point at 5-6 in the fourth set — and kept Tien at a distance by dominating rallies of 0-4 shots, winning 106 of those exchanges to his opponent’s 68.
“Learner from the baseline was playing unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve played anyone who plays that well from the baseline for a very long time,” Zverev said of the 20-year-old, drawing huge cheers from the crowd. “Without my [24] aces, I probably would not have won today. I’m obviously very happy with my serve, just generally happy to be back in the semis.”
Semi-final bound ✈️@AlexZverev defeats Tien to reach the final four in Melbourne for the fourth time.@AustralianOpen | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/3gBr9yFKI6
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 27, 2026
After an emphatic upset of Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round, the 25th-seeded Tien put a scare into Zverev when he rattled off four straight points to win the second-set tie-break from 3/5 down. But more stellar serving helped the German regroup to roll through the third.
The patient Tien had more success in longer rallies, doing his damage with precision rather than power and effectively using width to open the court. But the free points kept coming on Zverev’s serve, leaving the German free to hit out as he repeatedly dragged his opponent into rallies on return.
After failing to close out the second-set tie-break, Zverev sealed the victory after building a 6/0 lead in the fourth-set tie-break — though his first double fault of the match at 6/0 injected one last bit of drama.
Zverev finished the 2025 season at No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings but still called it an “incredibly unsatisfying” year after winning just one title (Munich). The 28-year-old is living up to his sky-high standards this fortnight, particularly in his past two wins against an in-form Francisco Cerundolo and Tien — both of whom earned at least one Lexus ATP Head2Head win against Zverev last year.
Through to his 10th Grand Slam semi-final and his first since last year in Melbourne, Zverev awaits the winner of the Tuesday evening showdown between World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and Aussie hope Alex de Minaur.
Tien, who bettered his breakout fourth-round run from one year ago at the Australian Open, is up to No. 24 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting himself up to debut inside the Top 25.
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