Alex de Minaur out to break new ground as next generation boost Australia hopes

Amid the annual upheaval at the Australian Open, of party courts, one-point fairytales, and ever-expanding festivals, some things don’t change. Alex de Minaur has had the same locker every year of the 10 he has played at Melbourne Park, and he once again carries the hopes of home fans into the year’s first grand slam.

On the Groundhog Day repetition of the international circuit, it’s the kind of familiarity that might breed superstition. But not for the 26-year-old. “Throughout my career I’ve tried to stay clear from superstitions, because I think it can consume you,” said the man entering the tournament – at No 6 – as the highest local men’s seed in two decades.

De Minaur’s time on tour has been marked by his consistency to perform at a high level, including the last four years in and around the world’s top 10. He has returned to his career-high rank of No 6 this month. But the summit has so far eluded him.

He has reached the quarter-finals at a grand slam six times – including at Melbourne Park last year – without being able to take that next step. The defeat at home last year against Jannik Sinner, when the Italian swamped De Minaur 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 in just 108 minutes, was the defending champion’s 10th victory in a row against the Australian.

The pair met another three times in 2025, Sinner won them all. Against the other titan of contemporary tennis, Carlos Alcaraz, De Minaur is again winless, this time from five meetings.

The Australian, however, is optimistic he can unlock another level in his game. “I’ve had the variety, I’ve always been happy to come to the net and feel quite confident up there, I’ve had different aspects of my game,” he said.

“But depending on matchups or who I’ve been playing, I haven’t always executed it in the right moment. It’s just about finding ways to bring out that creative side in me, which is normally when I play some of my best tennis.”

De Minaur has been given a challenging draw after landing in Alcaraz’s quarter, and faces a testing first round match up against Italian Matteo Berrettini. De Minaur said it will be a “battle” against the former world No 6, and that “it basically just means that I’m going to have to be firing from the word ‘go’.”

Despite the withdrawal of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis due to their ongoing recovery from surgery, there will be 11 Australian men in the singles draw after Dane Sweeny and Jason Kubler progressed through qualifying. But none are younger than 24, underlining a gap between the current crop and the next generation.

Australia’s women’s tennis however has undergone a rapid overhaul in the past year. Maya Joint has emerged as the top-ranked player, and the 19-year-old enters the tournament as the 30th seed and the first Australian woman seeded since Ash Barty in 2022. The 21-year-old Talia Gibson, 20-year-old Taylah Preston – who beat Emma Raducanu in Hobart on Thursday – and 17-year-old Emerson Jones are also in the main draw.

After facing Elena Rybakina in her Australian Open debut last year, Jones faces another difficult opening match this year. She meets 17th seed Victoria Mboko, the Canadian teenager who beat last year’s Australian Open champion Maddison Keys at the Adelaide International this week on the way to Saturday’s final.

“Her confidence will be high, but I’ve just got to play my game and really believe in myself and kind of trust my game too,” Jones said. “She’s not that much older than me, she’s also really taken off in the rankings – she was in Wimbledon qualies [qualifiers] when I was in Wimbledon qualies, so it really does show you what you can do.”

There is another new face among the Australians after Russian-born Daria Kasatkina switched allegiances last year. Jones has appreciated the opportunity to train with someone who reached No 8 in the world in 2022 and is now, behind Joint, Australia’s second-highest ranked woman. “She’s great, I love her, she’s so funny,” Jones said. “She will also hit with me, which is good because it’s hard for me to step in and find women to hit with me because no one really knows me yet.”

Storm Hunter, the veteran who progressed through qualifying on Thursday, said Kasatkina was a “great addition” to the Australian team. “Dasha coming to Australia was a surprise for everyone, we didn’t know, but I think she’s been really embraced by all the players and it seems also the Australian population too,” Hunter said. “I think she was really nervous playing in front of Australia, she wants to do really well.”

So for local tennis fans, the 2026 Australian Open will look a little bit different. Even, perhaps, for the serial grand slam quarter-finalist De Minaur. “There was a restaurant we used to frequent every time we were around here,” he said on Friday, mourning its recent closure. “Now we’ve got to look for a new spot.”

Australians’ first-round opponents

Men’s singles:

Adam Walton v Carlos Alcaraz (1)

Tristan Schoolkate v Corentin Moutet (32)

Aleks Vukic v Thiago Agustín Tirante

Alex de Minaur (6) v Matteo Berrettini

Alexei Popyrin v Alexandre Muller

Jordan Thompson (wildcard) v Juan Manuel Cerundolo

Rinky Hijikata (wildcard) v Adrian Mannarino

Chris O’Connell (wildcard) v Nishesh Basavareddy

James Duckworth (wildcard) v Dino Prizmic

Dane Sweeny (qualifier) v Gael Monfils

Jason Kubler (qualifier) v Frances Tiafoe (29)

Women’s singles:

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