Melbourne, Australia, 17 January 2025 | Patric Ridge

There is no doubt that Alex de Minaur is the home favourite at Australian Open 2025.

Seeded eighth, he is the highest Australian seed in the AO men’s singles since Lleyton Hewitt was seeded third in 2006. In fact, De Minaur is the highest Aussie men’s seed at any Grand Slam since Hewitt was No.6 at Wimbledon in 2006.

So far, De Minaur has lived up to the billing.

He has claimed straight-sets wins over Botic van de Zandschulp and Tristan Boyer. Next up is a first Tour-level meeting with Francisco Cerundolo.

Overcome the Argentine and it will be Alex Michelsen or Karen Khachanov in the fourth round. World No.1 and reigning AO champion Jannik Sinner is a potential quarter-final opponent.

But with the backing of a boisterous home crowd and playing some of the best tennis of his career, De Minaur should be brimming with confidence as he aims to become the first Australian man to win the AO title since Mark Edmondson in 1976, and just the fifth home winner of the men’s singles crown in the Open era, after Rod Laver (1969), Ken Rosewall (1971, 1972), John Newcombe (1973, 1975) and Edmondson.

Since the event switched over to hard court in 1988, only two Australian men have reached the singles final – Pat Cash (1988) and Hewitt (2005).

So there is plenty of history in the offing for De Minaur, and his form really is imperious.

After claiming two victories at the United Cup prior to AO 2025, De Minaur has won his first four matches of the season for the first time since 2021. He has claimed these victories without dropping a set, meaning he has reeled off four successive straight-set Tour-level wins to start a campaign for the first time in his career.

He remains undefeated at the AO in matches in which he has taken the first two sets, owning an 11-0 record.

Sinner and De Minaur are the only men to reach the third round at each of the last seven hard-court Grand Slams – Daniil Medvedev could have matched the duo, but the three-time AO runner-up was stunned 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(8) 1-6 7-6(7) by teenager Learner Tien on Thursday.

7/7 – Alex de Minaur is the first player to make the R3 in each of the last seven Men's Singles Grand Slam events on hard court – also Sinner and Medvedev can equal this record. Dexterity.#AO2025 | @AustralianOpen @atptour pic.twitter.com/e0JWEAnLOp

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) January 16, 2025

De Minaur has now won 16 AO matches. Only at the US Open (18) has he won more Grand Slam ties, while in the 21st century, just three Australian men have claimed more singles wins at the AO – Hewitt (31), Bernard Tomic (18) and Nick Kyrgios (17).

Kyrgios and Tomic are firmly in De Minaur’s sites, while at the age of 25, he surely has every chance of breaking Hewitt’s record.

De Minaur’s win over Boyer made him the first player to make the AO third round in each of the last five years – an effort that was subsequently matched by Khachanov, who downed Gabriel Diallo.

Since the tournament moved to Melbourne Park and switched to a 128-player draw in 1988, De Minaur is already just the second Australian man, after Mark Woodforde (1988-1992) to reach the AO third round in five consecutive years.

Should the Sydneysider beat Cerundolo, he will become the first player to reach the last 16 at each edition of the Slam since 2020.

The omens are good as De Minaur is 6-2 against Argentine players on the ATP Tour, winning each of his last six such encounters in straight sets.

Should he keep up that form, he will reach the fourth round of a Slam for the 11th time in his career, and become the highest-ranked Aussie man since Hewitt in 2005 to reach the last 16 at the AO.

This could just be the Demon’s time.