Alex de Minaur believes he knows how he can improve against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner after watching Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
Djokovic reached the final of the Australian Open earlier this year, but missed out on a record 25th Grand Slam after losing to Alcaraz.
ATP number one Alcaraz completed the career Grand Slam in the process, but he was troubled early on by Djokovic, who reached the final after a semifinal win over Sinner.
Meanwhile, De Minaur was beaten by Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, with the Australian now looking back on his time at the Grand Slam.
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Alex de Minaur keen to improve after watching Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open
De Minaur said on his YouTube channel: “Watching Novak play those last two matches and seeing him being able to go toe-to-toe with them, what you notice is that strike and it’s inevitable that ball speed.
“I felt his ball speed. And going up and down the middle, when they showed the average stats throughout the tournament, Novak was ahead of Carlos.
“Even though it was just by 1km or whatever, the fact that someone like Novak is able to create pressure and make these guys feel uncomfortable shows it can be done, you just have to improve on that.”
De Minaur really must improve drastically against both Alcaraz and Sinner if he is to challenge them on the court.
He has a simply disastrous head-to-head record against the duo, losing all six of his meetings with the Spaniard, and all 13 against the Italian.
De Minaur has incidentally enjoyed slightly more success against legendary figure Djokovic, but again holds a negative 1-3 record.
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Alex de Minaur experiences rollercoaster after Australian Open
De Minaur has experienced a busy start to the season, beginning with a United Cup quarterfinal run with Australia.
And after he fell at the same stage at his home Grand Slam, De Minaur won the Rotterdam Open, immediately bouncing back on the ATP Tour.
But a massive upset has since followed in his next tournament, with the Australian losing his opening match in Acapulco.
The two-time champion suffered a shock defeat to qualifier Patrick Kypson, who won their round of 32 clash 6-1, 6-7(4-7), 7-6(7-4).
De Minaur was far from his best in Mexico, but world number 103 Kypson deserves all the credit after earning the biggest win of his career against the second seed.
It’s a big blow for the world number six, although De Minaur will likely have very few complaints about his run since the Australian Open thanks to his Rotterdam success.
| Year | Titles | Tournaments |
| 2026 | 1 | Rotterdam (Indoor/Hard) |
| 2025 | 1 | Washington (Outdoor/Hard) |
| 2024 | 2 | ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Outdoor/Grass) Acapulco (Outdoor/Hard) |
| 2023 | 1 | Acapulco (Outdoor/Hard) |
| 2022 | 1 | Atlanta (Outdoor/Hard) |
| 2021 | 2 | Eastbourne (Outdoor/Grass) Antalya (Outdoor/Hard) |
| 2019 | 3 | Zhuhai (Outdoor/Hard) Atlanta (Outdoor/Hard) Sydney (Outdoor/Hard) |
That has now been overshadowed by Acapulco, but he still boasts a fantastic 11-3 record for the 2026 season.
He will, however, leave Mexico with plenty on his mind, while Kypson now meets fellow American Brandon Nakashima in the Acapulco round of 16.
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