AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2026

Alex De Minaur

Press Conference

A. de MINAUR/H. Medjedovic

6-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Alex, congrats on reaching the third round. How impressed were you by Hamad in the first set?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I mean, he was playing some really high-quality stuff. As I said, it didn't surprise me 'cause I know what he's capable of. It was obviously frustrating because having to play against it, he was doing a lot of the right things, serving really well, playing some really great shots in big moments.

But I'm happy I was able to kind of weather the storm, turn it around, and get to the next round.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How much satisfaction do you get out of sort of absorbing what he was throwing at you and turning it around to the extent that you were destroying him in a lot of ways? Looked like he was beaten mentally and physically. What is it like seeing that turnaround in a match at your end?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it feels amazing. But it's a tough position to be in. My position, for example, you're in that fine balance where he's throwing everything at you, and everything seems to be going his way.

It takes a lot of mental effort to kind of stay in the moment and not get, you know, overly frustrated by what's happening on the other side and just trying to hang with him. I thought I did a really good job of that. Even if the first set didn't kind of go my way, I just kept at it.

That's, I guess, the beauty of five-set matches. It's a hell of a long time to maintain that sort of level. I felt like I could kind of, yeah, keep my level for a little bit longer. That was the difference today.

Q. When it comes to these moments where you're playing in these dogfights, have to find a way to get it done, when you look at the tournament holistically, does it almost give you a sense of pride almost valued as much as getting that easy victory sometimes?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I mean, I do take a lot of pride in these types of victories. More than anything because I'm playing a very tough opponent, who played a really high-quality tennis. I felt like I was able to hang with him and kind of maintain my level.

As the match went on and on, I was able to even raise my level at times. That I'm very happy with, that I can kind of almost have that impact on opponents where they might start thinking that they're in for a long night and it's going to be very tough, especially best-of-five.

Of course, if we play the same match, now I can skip the first set and play like I did the last couple sets, then I'll take that any day, as well. Save the legs (smiling).

Q. You either play Tiafoe or Comesana in the next round. Can you talk through those two matchups, what you'd be expecting.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, Frances, he's super dangerous, right? He's playing well, got a lot of firepower. He's a veteran. We've had some battles in the past. I wouldn't expect anything other than an absolute battle against him. He seems to be locked in. I would be really excited for that match.

Then with Comesana, I've only played him the once. He's got firepower, as well. He's got the ability to kind of go out there and really dictate with his forehand if he's given time. He's quite crafty with the slice, as well. Has a big first serve. Ultimately, he's a competitor. He's a tough guy to put away.

Yeah, I mean, the same thing we kind of talked about at the start of the week: it's only going to get tougher and tougher. I'm very happy with my level. I'm up for the full challenge.

Q. You've spoken about two different tournaments, day and night. You've experienced both now. How do you see with your game? Do you have a preference which slot you'd like to be in?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, the way I look at this is the bigger matches are always going to be played at night. So if I want to go deep at this tournament, I need to play well in those types of conditions.

Yeah, ultimately, doesn't matter how good you play during the day. But it gets to a point where there's no more day matches, right?

I'm happy with the way I dealt with the conditions today. It was a lot of different conditions. We started with the roof open, and it was kind of quite swirly. Then all of a sudden the roof closed, and it was an indoor match. But I thought I handled all of that really well.

Yeah, I mean, it's good to get that confidence boost that you've played a good match at nighttime, as well.

Q. You mentioned weathering the storm. The rain came in pretty hard. What was going through your mind at that point? Did you use that as a bit of a reset?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, I thought I was in a pretty good spot. I kind of had the momentum on my side. It was a tricky kind of timing-wise. He took a lengthy toilet break. All of a sudden it was like the rain came down. It was another 15, 20 minutes.

I thought, like, it was a little bit of a restart. It allowed him to kind of settle down again. I just really wanted to make sure I started well. That's it.

So I came out of the blocks very hot. I had a really good service game. That was key. But I felt like I had finally gotten on top of him momentum-wise. Then we had a little break. Had to get myself going again.

But yes, very pleased.

Q. Looking back at the first set and a half where he's smashing the ball around, obviously there's always been that talk around you that you can be vulnerable against those types of guys. How has your approach and mindset evolved against those types of players over the years that's got you to this position now?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, it is true that I've lost a couple matches against these types of players. But I feel like almost any player would lose against these types of players when they're going after their shots and not really missing.

For me, I've got that -- I guess, I portray that image that it's going to be tough over five sets. They can come out and play a really good first set, or a good set, but they're going to have to maintain their level over three-out-of-five sets. If they can do that, they're going to get the win over me.

But I am doing my best to, even when they're coming out hot off the blocks, doing my best to navigate. I'm currently 6 in the world, right? I've gotten there because I can play some ball, too, right? Even if my opponent is playing some lights-out tennis, there's still ways where I can hurt my opponent and get them out of that kind of zone.

More than feeling sorry for myself, I'm starting to look at it the other way, that it's up to me to kind of get him out of that zone and lift my level and show what I'm made of. That's what's helping me with these types of matches.