Alex de Minaur hit a new milestone after starting his Qatar Open campaign with a victory.
The Australian has enjoyed a solid start to the 2025 season after reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals.
The 25-year-old backed up that run on home soil with a trip to the Rotterdam Open final, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
Now De Minaur is in Qatar searching for his first title of the season and he made an impressive start at the ATP Tour 500 event.
Alex de Minaur set new milestone after winning first round at Qatar Open
Alex De Minaur took on Roman Safiullin to start his Qatar Open campaign.
The World number eight stormed through the first set and was able to soak up the Russian’s aggressive baseline play, who committed multiple unforced errors.
De Minaur served for the match at 5-4 in set two, but Safiullin battled back and levelled proceedings at 5-5.
But the Australian responded quickly by breaking back, before successfully serving for a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
This win is De Minaur’s 200th on hard courts, and this makes him the first man born in 1999 or after to reach that milestone.
Alex de Minaur reacts after winning his 200th hard court match
De Minaur’s victory over Safiullin is his 12th of the 2025 season.
He is also the third Australian player after Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt to win 200 matches on hard courts.
De Minaur, who will now prepare for a match against Botic van de Zandschulp in the next round, explained what he did to win.
“They’re tough days, these ones,” he said. “It’s cold, it’s windy, you probably don’t want to get out of bed. But once you step on court, you have to do everything you can to win.
“Whether it’s ugly or pretty tennis, you just put the ball in the court, and that’s what I did today. The wind made it difficult to feel comfortable out there on court.
“Out went any sort of tactics you had for the match and it was all about surviving more than anything.”
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
