Australian legends Cash, Rafter, Hewitt explain what Alex De Minaur needs to do to beat Carlos Alcaraz at Australian Open
De Minaur has lost all five of his battles with Alcaraz but has been playing some of his best tennis and has the support of a home crowd
Lleyton Hewitt and Alex De Minaur, 2025 Davis Cup | © JONATHAN NÄCKSTRAND/BILDBYRÅN/Shutterstock /SIPA
Alex de Minaur takes on Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday night, one of the toughest tasks in tennis, on any surface. Alcaraz has won all five of their previous matches but this is their first at a Grand Slam event, with both men bidding to reach the semi-finals here for the first time.
Australia hasn’t had a men’s champion here in Melbourne since Mark Edmondson in 1976 but they are still blessed with a host of former major winners since then, from Pat Cash to Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt (De Minaur’s mentor), and one who almost made it, Mark Philippoussis.
Tennis Majors caught up with all of them at Melbourne Park to discuss De Minaur’s game and what he needs to do if he’s to upset the world No 1 and reach his first slam semi-final.
Pat Cash: “It’s the best I’ve ever seen him play”
What is De Minaur doing well at the moment?
“It’s the best I’ve ever seen him play. I was actually quite impressed with the way he played Novak (Djokovic) at Wimbledon. I thought he played really well there. What he’s doing really well, is he’s not being pushed back behind the baseline, so he’s keeping his position. He’s so quick, he’s able to cover that within a couple of steps. So he’s changed his core positioning. I don’t know exactly when, but certainly at Wimbledon, he was pretty he was good at that. He’s doing very well at that. And here he’s sort of just really nailed it. It’s really suddenly starting to work. Which means it looks like he’s attacking more, getting the ball back faster because of his core position, it’s very Andre Agassi. Agassi was the king of that, you just couldn’t move him back.”
How important is it for De Minaur to serve a high percentage?
“He has to serve really well. I think he’ll be in a lot of the rallies. Obviously, Carlos has got the variety and topspin and he’d be able to push him out of position and come forward and finish the ball off. But the objective for him is really not to let Carlos dictate. And Carlos leaves a lot of gaps there. Because he runs around his backhand there is space down the line, and backhand down the line is a shot Alex hits really well. Carlos leaves that space but uses his athleticism to get to it.”
Can De Minaur win?
“I give him a chance. It’ll be interesting to see. It will be warm in there, the roof will be shut. I think it probably will help Alex, because he doesn’t want the ball to be jumping around. In the daytime, Carlos would jump it up, kick it up, and slice it down, and that’s really tough to play. So I think the conditions are lining up for him to have a real go. He’s focused. He’s playing well. He’s fit. He hasn’t been stretched.”
Pat Rafter: “He needs to have an aggressive game plan”
What does Alex need to do in particular?
“He’s going to have to try to sneak in if he can. I know he’s been trying to put that as part of his game, well before I was sort of helping him. He was trying to work out how he was going to sneak in. He’s going to have to. He didn’t do it that much against (Alexander) Bublik but maybe he didn’t have to. But then when you do it against Alcaraz, every time you hit a great shot the guy seems to be there. What a nightmare.”
Does he have the ability to mix things up?
“Alex doesn’t have that technique to hit a heavy top spinning ball deep into a corner. Now, what does his change-up look like? Is it a little rolled angle to get Carlos moving forward a little bit more. Alex has a beautiful little slice, which he can go down the line with, bring Alcaraz forward. But gee, if he’s there early, he’s just going to hurt him so much. It just depends. Alex has got to play around with a couple of things early, see if it works, and find out if there is any chink in his armour.”
He has struggled on serve in the past against the top two. How does he change that?
“It’s a little bit like when I played Agassi. I knew I had to hit my spots. If I missed them, the score was going to be one and two, but if I hit them, it was going to be a tight match. And that’s the way Alex is trying to play. He knows he wants some free points. He knows he’s got to serve big, but if he keeps giving second serves, if he doesn’t serve that well, it doesn’t go well either. I think he needs to commit to something. He needs to go in there probably with a pretty aggressive game plan. But at the same time, what does plan B, plan C, look like? Are there opportunities to mix it up and change it up? And the other thing is, you don’t want to go in with Plan A, and all of a sudden you’re getting your arse kicked and then plan B gets your arse kicked really quickly too. That’s when the frustration sets in. So I’m sure he’s going to have a few little things he’s going to try. Is he willing to stick at him? Does he wait? How long does he stay with those change-ups as well? Does he stay with it for a whole set. Or is it two sets?”
Alcaraz is very popular. Will it be awkward for De Minaur if the crowd is not 100 percent on his side?
“It’s a pain in the arse (when that happens). Agassi was an arsehole (smiling). That’s what you have to deal with. There’ll be a lot of support for Alex, don’t worry. I think the Aussie crowd and Rod Laver Arena are really respectful as well. So they’ll be cheering both. They want to see great tennis.”
Can De Minaur win?
“He can (win) but he just hasn’t had the results against him. Can Alcaraz have a bit of an off day? Yes he can. Then everything that Alex does turns to gold. We need those type of things to happen.”
Lleyton Hewitt: “He’s given himself a shot”
Is this is as well as De Minaur has ever played?
“He played well here last year, Alex. So you know, the top guys are tough to come across. It’s going to be a big, big match for him. But, yeah, I think he looks forward to it.”
What can get him over the line?
“Well, the belief, I think, the confidence of he’s worked extremely hard and given himself every opportunity. He’s still got to go out there and execute, where everyone knows it’s not going to be easy, but, yeah, he’s giving himself a shot.”
Mark Philippoussis: “He needs to be willing to take some risks”
If Carlos stands deep on return, should Alex throw in some serve and volley?
“It’s easy to say yes. It’s easy to watch on the couch at home rather than being out in the court against him. I’m sure he’d be picking up a return from his toes. It’s so tough, but he needs to be willing to take some risks, and that’s one of them, and not doing it on a 30-all point. That’s not his game. But is there a 40-love or 40-15 where he can mix it in just to keep Carlos guessing a little bit? I’m not saying that is the solution, it’s certainly not that easy to defeat Alcaraz, but he’s in another quarter-final, now let’s where can I try and do something a little bit different? You know, where I’ve given myself an opportunity? And again, it’s easier said than done, but that’s where you’ve got to look at a game plan, with his team, saying, guys, what can I do a little bit differently? And if I lose, it’s okay, I’m willing to take these risks on these certain days.”
How important is it for him to serve well?
“He’s getting a little bit more pop in the serve, and I’m sure that’s something that he’s been working on. That’s a great thing to see. It’s about picking up cheaper points where he’s not having to grind every single point to hold serve or to be in the match. They’re the kind of points that make a huge difference. Even though we know he’s got the physicality and the mentality to go those deep five, to play like that. It’s going to be tough. He needs to have some free points. And that also comes with a good percentage of high percentage of first service in. So if he can get a better, high percentage of the first service in, he will be getting those cheap points, which will be big difference. And that will hopefully help him.”
