Alex de Minaur’s love affair with the Australian Open continued on Friday night, when he powered into the fourth round for the fifth consecutive year.
The No. 6 player in the PIF ATP Rankings dropped serve just once in his 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win over Frances Tiafoe under the lights at Rod Laver Arena. With the victory, De Minaur became just the second Australian man to reach the last 16 at Melbourne Park in five consecutive years, joining former World No. 1 John Newcombe, who achieved the feat on eight straight occasions between 1969 and 1976.
“In my brain, I don’t associate playing in Australia as playing with pressure, I associate it with excitement,” De Minaur said. “Since I was a kid, this is where I wanted to be: in front of packed crowds. I’m truly fortunate to be in this position. Yes, it gets stressful at times, but that’s only because I want it so bad.”
Hometown hero 🗣️🗣️🗣️@alexdeminaur continues his #AO26 campaign with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win over Tiafoe 💪 @AustralianOpen pic.twitter.com/SIFG4L4gIF
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 23, 2026
Now just one win away from a potential quarter-final showdown with World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, De Minaur will meet Alexander Bublik in the fourth round.
“It was a hell of a battle, so huge respect to him,” said De Minaur, who improved to 4-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Tiafoe. “I played some of my best tennis in the tournament for two-and-a-half sets, and he just lifted it when he needed it… I just had to manage it. It was quite stressful at the end, but I’m very relieved I got over the line.”
Bublik closed Friday’s evening session on Margaret Court Arena with a flashy performance to down Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-4 and reach the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time.
The Kazakhstani is now riding a seven-match winning streak after capturing his ninth ATP Tour title in Hong Kong two weeks ago. He captured a personal-best four trophies and 37 tour-level wins in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and is showing no sign of letting that momentum slip in 2026.
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