Alex de Minaur reacts as he reaches ‘amazing’ year-long achievement following his latest win in China

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Alex de Minaur continued his charge towards the Shanghai Masters title on Wednesday.

The Australian number one took down Portugal’s Nuno Borges in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, to book his place in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters.

There, he will meet either Daniil Medvedev or Learner Tien on Thursday, October 9.

Beating Borges, De Minaur secured his 50th win of the season, a landmark that hasn’t been achieved by an Australian player since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.

During his post-match interview, De Minaur had this to say when he was told about the record.

Alex de Minaur is ‘hoping for many more’ as he picks up 50th win of 2025

After securing his spot in the last eight, De Minaur reflected on his 50th win of the season.

“For me, it just shows consistency, right, and that’s what I’m most proud of, showing up every single week,” he said.

“It’s an amazing number, I’m hoping for many more to finish off the year, and not to stay at 50.

“I told myself at the start of the week, it was going to be a very big mental effort to go out there and compete, and do your best every time you step out on the court, so I’m happy to be in the quarterfinals and give myself another opportunity.”

De Minaur proceeded to comment on the match itself, where he overcame a ‘tricky’ opponent.

“It was my first time playing Nuno [Borges], right? So there were a lot of adjustments; he’s quite a tricky opponent, he’s got a very flat backhand, he looks to go line very early in the rally to get into the forehand exchange,” he said.

“He’s got some exceptional hands and range, especially on the forehand side. He can hit this really tricky squash shot, which is very hard to control.

“It did take a little bit of adjustment and I just had to find my way to see what sort of patterns were suiting me today, but I’m glad how I was able to overcome that very tough first set and in the second set come out and look to be a little bit more aggressive and play my brand of tennis and get through in two very tough sets.”

Securing the win, De Minaur edged one step closer to ATP Finals qualification…

‘A lot can happen’ – Alex de Minaur on the Race to Turin

The Aussie is wary of getting ahead of himself, as he continues to add points to his tally in the ATP Race to Turin.

“Every match is important, that’s the way I’m looking at it, every time I step out on court I’m not giving it more importance or less importance, I’m just going out there and taking it match by match,” said De Minaur.

“Look, there are plenty of points up for grabs. I know we don’t have that many tournaments left, but a lot can happen. For me, it’s all about doing my best, staying in the moment.

“What’s the point in me thinking four or five weeks ahead when I’m here right now in the quarterfinals?”

De Minaur is currently sitting in 7th place in the ‘Live ATP Race to Turin’, but has a comfortable gap to Jack Draper in 9th.

With Draper out of contention due to injury, De Minaur needs to keep an eye on Felix Auger-Aliassime in 10th place.

The Canadian currently trails De Minaur by 740 points, but like the Aussie, Auger-Aliassime is still going strong in Shanghai.

De Minaur and Auger-Aliassime could potentially meet in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters.

If the 26-year-old were to win that match, he would all but secure his spot in the ATP Finals for the second year in a row.

However, as De Minaur said, ‘a lot can happen’ and he won’t want to get carried away thinking about qualification just yet, as there is still work to be done in Shanghai…