Jelena Dokic's warning to Alex de Minaur as Aussie cops cruel blow for Jannik Sinner showdown
The famously unpredictable Melbourne weather has conspired against the local player at the Australian Open.
Jelena Dokic has warned Alex de Minaur against putting too much focus into the health of opponent Jannik Sinner for their quarter-final clash at the Australian Open. And Wednesday's cooler weather might act as a hindrance to the Aussie star's hopes of progressing.
De Minaur advanced to the final eight of his home grand slam for the first time on Monday night, beating American Alex Michelsen 6-0 7-6 (7-5) 6-3. The Aussie will have to go through World No.1 Sinner if he wants to make a first-career semi-final, and will have to overcome a horror head-to-head record of 0-9 against the Italian. While de Minaur would normally be a massive underdog, Sinner's physical struggles on Monday have seemingly given the Aussie a big chance.
Sinner was seen shaking uncontrollably at one stage against Holger Rune, and struggled in the Melbourne heat while suffering an illness. Speaking on Channel 9 on Tuesday morning, retired Aussie John Millman said de Minaur is a huge chance if Sinner isn't feeling 100 per cent on Wednesday.
"I was a bit concerned for him (Sinner) when I was watching it on the television," Millman said. "We found out later he is actually suffering from an illness and it was quite distressing. He was ginger on his feet. His arms were shaking when he was trying to take in water. This knocks you around. Make no mistake. He will be feeling this today."
Sam Stosur added: "I think the fact that Alex played at night last night, it's not as hot, he's not under the sun. He had a quicker match. It is in Alex's favour. We know he's done the hard work in the pre-season. You never know what it's going to be like (for Sinner) when you're suffering with something like that. Alex is one of the fittest guys out there. If he can draw out some of these longer rallies, really take it to Sinner, we'll see how he handles that."
But Dokic went against that chain of thought and warned de Minaur against placing too much focus on his opponent and his health. "One thing as a player, you can't think about Sinner tomorrow night as injured," she said. "No, you go into it [thinking] he is 150 per cent and there's nothing wrong with him. If you get into the injury mindset, it will take away from what you want to do. And thinking that he might not play as well."
Wednesday's cooler weather a huge blow for Alex de Minaur
In a huge blow for the Aussie's chances, Melbourne's famously unpredictable weather is conspiring against de Minaur - with much cooler conditions expected for the quarter-final showdown with Sinner. The Italian chose not to elaborate on his condition during a post-match press conference on Monday, other than to say he'd been consulting with doctors.
In light of Sinner's struggles, de Minaur would have loved the opportunity to play the Italian during a searing day session at Melbourne Park. The Aussie revelled in the hot conditions in his second round victory against Francisco Cerundolo as the Argentinian struggled with cramp. De Minaur even wrote "bring the Aussie heat" on the camera lens after the match and spoke about his love of those conditions.
The Demon isn't mincing words 😈🤩#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/GpmmN1Lhqn
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2025
A day match or even a night one in hot temperatures would seemingly play into de Minaur's hands and once again prove taxing for Sinner. But temperatures on Wednesday at Melbourne Park are set to be way down from the last few days and the quarter-final has been scheduled for the prime-time night session.
Melbourne is only forecast for highs of 20C on Wednesday afternoon and it's only expected to be around 18C during the evening when de Minaur will step onto Rod Laver Arena for the showdown against Sinner. (from 7.30pm AEDT). The cooler conditions will play into Sinner's hands and be a cruel blow for de Minaur.
Alex de Minaur intent on breaking hoodoo against Jannik Sinner
De Minaur is the first local into the last eight since Nick Kyrgios in 2015 and the first Australian to make four consecutive grand slam quarter-finals since Lleyton Hewitt surged all the way to the 2005 Australian Open title match. "I'm looking forward to it, obviously," Australia's World No.8 said about playing Sinner and hoping to snap his losing streak against the Italian. "It's going to be an incredibly tough match and I'm going to have to do something I haven't done before. But why not start here?"
De Minaur has already broken one hoodoo after finally winning through to his first Australian Open quarter-final and the 25-year-old was clearly thrilled to break the drought on Monday night. "It means the world. There's nothing I want to do more than play well in Australia," he said. "I'm super happy to finally break through, finally get that milestone moment here at the Australian Open.
"It felt like the slam that kept on slipping away where I felt like I had a little bit of a barrier at the fourth round, so it feels very good to finally break through another milestone in my career. I've worked really hard on myself to give myself these opportunities and chances, and it hasn't been overnight, it's been a long process, but I'm glad that I'm showing this consistency, and it's a good feeling to have four back-to-back quarter-finals at slams."
with AAP