Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur will be getting night-session treatment in Rod Laver Arena for the Australian Open quarterfinals on Tuesday. That is nothing new for either man, of course — Alcaraz because he is the No. 1 player in the world and De Minaur because he has been the top Australian for a while now.
Here is my pick for Tuesday’s marquee matchup.
(1) Carlos Alcaraz vs. (6) Alex de Minaur
Alcaraz is three wins away from completing the career Grand Slam. De Minaur is three wins away from becoming the first Australian man to lift the trophy at Melbourne Park since 1976.
Neither one, though, will get caught looking ahead. After all, neither one has even been to the semifinals Down Under. Alcaraz has reached the last eight three years in a row now but lost at this stage on his two previous trips. De Minaur lost in his first Aussie Open quarterfinal 12 months ago and he is now 0-6 lifetime in Grand Slam quarters.
The bottom line is that the stakes are HIGH for this showdown. Also high is the wall that De Minaur has to scale, as he is a heavy underdog in a matchup that he has lost on all five previous occasions that it has played out on the court. Three of Alcaraz’s wins came just last season, when he got the job done 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam, 7-5, 6-3 on the red clay of Barcelona, and 7-6(5), 6-2 at the Nitto ATP Finals.
Both players have been stellar so far in Melbourne. Alcaraz has advanced with straight-set defeats of Adam Walton, Yannick Hanfmann, Corentin Moutet, and Tommy Paul. De Minaur disposed of Mackenzie McDonald, Hamad Medjedovic, Frances Tiafoe, and Alexander Bublik while losing just a single set to Medjedovic in a tiebreaker.
The world No. 6 is playing well enough and always competes hard enough be competitive against heavily favored opponents, but Alcaraz is the obvious choice in this one.
Pick: Alcaraz in 4
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.