Sydney-born Alex de Minaur knows what it’s like to carry the hopes of a nation.
At the halfway mark of Australian Open 2026, the sixth seed is, once again, the last player with a shot at becoming the first homegrown man to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup since Mark Edmondson did so 50 years ago.
“The Australian Open is my home Slam, it is the most important tournament in my calendar where I really want to do well,” De Minaur said before the first ball of AO 2026 was struck.
By recording wins over Mackenzie McDonald, Hamad Medjedovic and 29th seed Frances Tiafoe in the first three rounds, De Minaur has lived up to his own great expectations and set up a tantalising fourth-round clash with 10th seed Alexander Bublik.
The 26-year-old is, on paper, considered the favourite to reach his second consecutive AO quarterfinal and seventh Grand Slam quarterfinal. But he knows better than to underestimate the talented Kazakh, one of only three men alongside Carlos Alcaraz and Tallon Griekspoor to defeat Jannik Sinner last season.
Bublik, one of the few players on the ATP Tour who has earned a reputation for his unpredictable, out-of-the-box game style and casual deployment of underarm serves, hasn’t enjoyed as much success at majors as his younger counterpart. But the 28-year-old did reach the last eight at Roland Garros last year, earning the first victory of his career against De Minaur in the process.
‘Demon’, as he’s known, comfortably led Bublik 6-2 6-2 before the resurgent right-hander asserted his dominance and closed out the match in five sets. Five months later at the Rolex Paris Masters, just seven kilometres away from Roland Garros, the Kazakh earned another comeback victory, taking out De Minaur 6-7(5) 6-4 7-5 in what he described as a "milestone win".
So although De Minaur carries a 3-2 head-to-head into Sunday’s battle, he’ll be rightfully wary of his dangerous rival who upset Lorenzo Musetti to capture the ninth title of his career in Hong Kong earlier this month and is undefeated in 2026.
“I hope it’s going to be a great match,” said Bublik. “I can’t wait to step on the court with him.”
The Aussie will step on court buoyed by confidence from a straight sets win over Tiafoe, the powerful two-time US Open semifinalist.
“Very pleased with my level,” said the affable De Minaur. “I was hitting through him and showing that I've got a little bit of power myself.”
“I had the right level of composure, being solid at times, and also being aggressive.”
De Minaur will look to employ those ingredients against Bublik and – if stars align to deliver a blockbuster quarterfinal – top seed Carlos Alcaraz.
“Some very tough opponents in front of me…I'm up for the challenge,” said De Minaur. “Hopefully I can step up to the occasion.”
READ: Kose kicks off AO junior campaign in style
Before contesting his fifth consecutive fourth-round match at Melbourne Park, De Minaur reiterated his goal to go all the way this fortnight.
“I'm…in a position where I want more, and I'm going to be pushing for that,” he said, referencing his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam crown.
“Hopefully I get better and better as the tournament goes on, and I can give myself the opportunity to play the matches that I want to be playing here at the Australian Open.”
The right-hander, well on his way to hunting down former world No.1 John Newcombe’s streak of eight consecutive trips to the last 16 at the AO, is fuelled by his doubters.
“I know that there [are] a lot of people that don't think I can do it -- that's completely fine, but I'm going to keep on pushing myself with my team and trying to prove those people wrong.”
“That's just going to add some more fire to the belly, and I have not yet achieved what I want to achieve in this sport.”
“It gets stressful at times, but that’s only because I want it so bad.”
Other Australian greats including two-time Grand Slam champion and AO 2005 finalist Lleyton Hewitt and Tony Roche, a former world No.2 who won Roland Garros in 1966 and reached four AO semifinals, are equally eager to see Demon succeed.
“Always believed that he was destined for big, big things,” Roche said in an interview with the ATP and AO Originals.
“We have a rich history in tennis and it’s about time that we get another winner…I think Alex is the person to do that.”