‘Locked in’ De Minaur brushes aside Bublik to set up Alcaraz clash

Tennis

‘Locked in’ De Minaur brushes aside Bublik to set up Alcaraz clash

By Alipate Narawa

26/01/2026

Photo: Australian Open

The excitement is building in Melbourne after Aussie fan favourite Alex de Minaur played another watertight match to get a top-10 win over the in-form, dangerous and downright unpredictable Alexander Bublik on his way to the Australian Open quarterfinals for the second successive year.

In truth, the Kazakh world No.10 – who until Sunday hadn’t lost a match all year – couldn’t find his best tennis on his Rod Laver Arena debut on Sunday night, with De Minaur cruising through a surprisingly one-sided match 6-4 6-1 6-1.

De Minaur made the most of Bublik’s struggles on first serve early on, was efficient on his own serve throughout, and was dominant during the baseline exchanges, committing just 10 unforced errors during an hour and 32 minutes.

The world No.6, who could become the first Australian men’s singles champion at the Melbourne major since Mark Edmondson in 1976, next faces world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Tommy Paul earlier on Sunday.

Source: ausopen.com

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