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Melbourne, Australia, 16 January 2025 | Gillian Tan

Dangerous and aggressive are two words that Alex de Minaur’s team shared when describing his second-round opponent Tristan Boyer.

They’re also fitting adjectives for the top-ranked Australian, who is confident enough in his own game to recognise a match should be on his racquet, regardless of what he learns through scouting reports.

“Ultimately, it was about me bringing the best version of myself,” said De Minaur, who delivered a commanding 6-2 6-4 6-3 win over the American qualifier on Thursday.

The eighth seed cruised into the third round of Australian Open 2025 by seizing control over the two-hour match, winning 88 per cent of first serve points and limiting his unforced error tally to 15.

The 25-year-old, competing in Melbourne Park for an eighth year, dropped serve once against the World No. 136 but maintained a pristine track record of having never lost to a qualifier at his home Grand Slam.

Asked what he’d improved most over the past 12 months, the Australian had an instant answer: his serve.

“Get more free points on serve, that’s been a goal for a very long time,” he said, noting that work in the gym, which has made him “a little bit bigger and stronger” enabled that development.

During his win over Boyer, De Minaur clocked a 217 km/h serve, his fastest of the tournament, which ranks the Australian among the top 15 fastest men’s servers at AO 2025 so far, tied with the likes of Matteo Berrettini and Tommy Paul, and a fraction slower than Taylor Fritz and Alex Zverev. His first serve averaged 194 km/h on Thursday, 11 km/h faster than Boyer.

“I varied from going for the big ones down the tee with some variety, with the sliders, and just felt like I was hitting my spots quite well,” said De Minaur, acknowledging that a well-placed serve – even if it’s not a free point – helps set up the next shot.

“Too often in the past I didn’t have enough power where I was really playing that next shot on my terms,” he said, crediting his ability to add 10km/h to 15 km/h on serve without sacrificing accuracy.

Buoyed by support from a legion of fans at Rod Laver Arena, De Minaur also showed off his trademark speed and court coverage by recording 34 sprints, almost double Boyer’s 18.

The Australian knows it might not be smooth sailing on Saturday when he takes the court against 31st seed Francisco Cerundolo for the first time. The 26-year-old, once ranked as high as 19, has earned 11 wins against top-10 players including Jannik Sinner, Zverev and Fritz.

“It’s going to be tough, he’s a quality opponent, lots of firepower, great forehand,” De Minaur admitted. “He’s taken some big scalps and hopefully I’m not the next one.”

“I’m looking forward to it, it’s going to be a really tough one,” added the right-hander, who knows he can’t be tentative.

“I’ve got to be up for it from the very first point, bring that intensity, play some aggressive style of tennis, bring out a better version of myself, which I think I’m doing every day.”

> RELATED: De Minaur “driving a culture” says Woodbridge

If De Minaur survives against the Argentinian, the agile right-hander will turn his sights to unchartered territory. After falling in the fourth round in the past three years to Andrey Rublev, Novak Djokovic and Sinner, all ranked higher than him at the time, the eighth seed is – on paper – the favourite to reach a maiden AO quarterfinal.

By doing so, he’d fill a gap in his resume, which includes last-eight appearances at all three of the other Grand Slams.

Find your way to play: Visit play.tennis.com.au to hit the court and have some fun!