Twelve months after being bagelled in the final set of his Australian Open campaign, you could have forgiven Alex de Minaur for having some jitters.
However, up against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp on Rod Laver Arena to kick off this year’s campaign, de Minaur looked every bit the player who is ready to do some serious winning.
Van de Zandschulp is no slouch of a first-round opponent. This is a man who sent Carlos Alcaraz packing in straight sets at last year’s US Open.
The 29-year-old loomed as a tricky test for de Minaur, and it was one that he passed with flying colours, registering a commanding 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 win.
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De Minaur dealt with a hip issue that caused him to miss the Olympics last year, but while his male compatriots struggle with injury, the Sydneysider looks in pristine condition.
After the end of last season, while other players took some well-deserved time off, de Minaur and his team got to work. It is early, but the results are already evident.
“This year we worked even harder,” he told reporters at Melbourne Park.
“We finished Davis Cup and then some people take holidays or some time off at the end of the year, but I wanted to get straight back to work.
“There’s not a lot of time to work on yourself, so for me it was very important to go with my team and look at myself and say, ‘OK, these are the areas we need to improve off the court and on the court’, and get to work.
“The motivation has never been higher.”
De Minaur was a proverbial wall against van de Zandschulp, returning ball after ball after ball, eventually forcing the weary Dutchman to make unforced errors following some lengthy rallies.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for de Minaur, particularly when he could do nothing but applaud after van de Zandschulp pulled off an incredible ‘tweener winner, but ultimately his class proved too steep a mountain for his opponent to climb.
De Minaur has always been a solid player, but against van de Zandschulp, he commanded the court in a way we’ve perhaps never seen. Stiffer tests lie ahead, but this is a great start.
“The body is exactly where I wanted it to be,” he said after the win.
De Minaur looked powerful all over the court during the win over van de Zandschulp. (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)
“I’ve put in countess hours over the better part of six months to get to this point of feeling good and feeling comfortable, sliding from one side to the other and not really thinking about my hip.
“That’s obviously an incredible positive. Now I’ve got to see how the body pulls up from this type of physical tennis.”
De Minaur’s inability to get past the quarterfinal stage of a grand slam is well documented. He’s never made it to that stage at the Australian Open, and exited at the quarters at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open last year.
After Stefanos Tsitsipas was bundled out in the first round, the path is clear for Australia’s top men’s seed to make a deep and potentially career-best run at Melbourne Park.
If De Minaur is feeling any pressure from the weight of expectation of being Australia’s best title hope this year at Melbourne Park, he isn’t showing it.
De Minaur was far too strong for van de Zandschulp in the pair’s first-round clash. (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)
“There is always going to be pressure,” he said.
“Like I’ve said many times before, no one is going to put more pressure on myself than myself.
“There is always going to be outside noise, and that’s always going to be in the background, but I go in every day with a mindset of trying to bring the best out of myself.
“When it comes to playing in Australia, my sole focus is to give myself the best chance when I walk on the court.”
If he keeps up the ruthless level of play he showed tonight, it’ll take a serious player to take down de Minaur over the next two weeks.
