In what should be one of the more exciting matches of this Australian Open, world No. 10 Alex de Minaur faces world No. 5 Andrey Rublev for a spot in the quarterfinals. de Minaur hasn’t dropped a set so far in his home major. The 24-year-old is in fantastic form, and loves playing in front of the Melbourne crowd. That will make him a very dangerous opponent for Rublev, who has won back-to-back matches in straight sets after a long five-set battle with Thiago Seyboth Wild in the opening round.
Rublev has ridiculous power from both sides of the court, and is capable of hitting through pretty much anyone when he's on. But I’m not sure he’ll be able to do that against de Minaur. The Australian is one of the fastest players on the planet, and that allows him to play high-level defense along the baseline. And de Minaur isn’t just a pusher that gets balls back in play—he has sneaky power and will go for a winner when you least expect it.
On top of that, the Australian is holding at an absurd 95.4% clip this season. He has been below 80.0% in four consecutive years, so that number isn’t even close to sustainable. But it’s clear that de Minaur has made improving his serve a priority, and I trust him to hold his own with the ball on his racquet.
