Andy Roddick tells Alex de Minaur what he’s ‘got to’ do if he wants to beat Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open

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Alex de Minaur is the last remaining Aussie left in this year’s Australian Open, as he prepares for his quarter-final match.

For the first time in his career, the Australian number one has advanced to the last eight of the Australian Open.

De Minaur’s latest win over Alex Michelsen saw him advance to the quarter-finals, having lost in the fourth round in each of his last three visits to Melbourne Park.

He has now lost just one set all tournament, as De Minaur beat Francisco Cerundolo, 5-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the third round.

The Aussie star will face off against world number one Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals, no doubt his toughest test of the tournament so far.

Ahead of their last eight clash, one ATP Tour legend has told De Minaur what he must do if he wants to secure his place in the semis.

Andy Roddick tells Alex de Minaur he must make it ‘physical’ to beat Jannik Sinner

Speaking on his Quick Served podcast, former world number one Andy Roddick revealed what surprised him about De Minaur’s win over Michelsen.

“I’ll tell you what I wouldn’t have predicted, I wouldn’t have predicted the Demon [Alex de Minaur] served 42% first serves and won, 6-0, 7-6, 6-3, in straight sets,” he said.

“You don’t see that very often, and I’ll tell you, that won’t work against Jannik Sinner.”

Roddick did, however, notice Sinner’s physical struggles, during his fourth-round win, which he thinks could be a point of weakness for De Minaur to focus on.

“[Sinner] beats [Holger] Rune in four sets, but takes a medical timeout, there’s a video of his hand shaking, during it, he said going in he didn’t feel the best, maybe he’s been carrying some sort of illness and this is the first time he’s been extended physically to show it,” said Roddick.

“If I’m in Demon’s crew, and now I have a quarter-final against this guy that has beaten the pants off me in Turin last year, I’m going, let’s get him into it physically, let’s get him extended, let’s see what he’s actually dealing with.

“I’m pounding the physicality of this matchup with Demon v Sinner, if he’s got some kind of physical crutch, we’ve got to kick the crutch.”

Roddick mentioned De Minaur’s defeat to the Italian star at last year’s ATP Finals, but that wasn’t the only time he lost to Sinner.

The pair have met nine times on the ATP Tour, with Sinner winning every encounter, including three in 2024.

Perhaps the most worrying sign for the Aussie is that most of their matches were fairly one-sided, with De Minaur winning just one out of the 21 sets they’ve played.

Their quarter-final encounter won’t be their first in Melbourne either, as Sinner took down De Minaur in the fourth round, three years ago.

What Jimmy Connors used to tell Andy Roddick that Alex de Minaur’s latest win reminded him of

Roddick went on to say how De Minaur reminded him of another Aussie star, during his win over Michelsen.

“There were a bunch of points where he reminded me of [Lleyton] Hewitt,” he said.

“I had flashbacks of playing points where I did what I wanted, I hit three good balls, hit a good approach shot, I executed the approach shot well, then Lleyton picked one up off of his shoe tops because he’s the fastest kid on earth, and then he’s hit a passing shot.

“I had a great coach, Jimmy Connors, who would say, kid, operation successful, sometimes the patient dies.

“That’s what I felt I was watching over and over with Demon and Michelsen.”

Hewitt reached the Australian Open final in 2005 and remains the last Aussie to make it to that stage of the event.

It remains to be seen if De Minaur can turn the tide against Sinner and book his place in a first-career Grand Slam semi-final at this year’s tournament.

De Minaur will take on Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, January 22.