‘Filthy’ Alex de Minaur destroys Frances Tiafoe with ‘video game’ tennis to reach Australian Open fourth round
Glenn Valencich7NEWS Sport
Fri, 23 January 2026 7:02PM
Aussie world No.6 Alex de Minaur has seen off American rival Frances Tiafoe to reach the Australian Open fourth round for a fifth straight year.
Showing no signs of the early sluggishness that forced him into a four-setter two nights ago, de Minaur broke Tiafoe in more ways than one when he took the crucial eighth game of the first set.
Tiafoe simply looked deflated for much of the match and only resisted late before the home hero wrapped up a 6-3 6-4 7-5 victory inside Rod Laver Arena.
De Minaur faced a hiccup when he was broken with victory in his sights late in the third set, and coughed up two chances to break straight back.
“The finish-line pressure is real,” Jim Courier said in commentary on Nine.
But Tiafoe was undone by a let call under the current system at grand slams that leaves those decisions entirely up to chair umpires without any help from technology.
With John McEnroe baffled by the situation given technology is used on the ATP Tour, Courier was quick to reveal “there’s a lawsuit involved”.
World No.3 Alexander Zverev has already been a vocal critic of the situation earlier in the tournament.
Tiafoe, in disbelief at the let call that robbed him of a possible easy approach winner late in a tense 10-minute game, soon smashed a big forehand straight into the net to drop serve — and de Minaur overcame a first-up double fault to serve out the match.
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“Frances is a hell of a competitor, that was a hell of a battle so huge respect to him,” the Aussie said.
“I played some of my best tennis in the tournament for two and a half sets, and he just lifted it when he needed it and he started going big.
“He started returning and playing with some great depth, taking the racquet out of my hand. And look, I just had to just manage it and it was quite stressful at the end. But I’m very relieved that I got over the line.”
The local hope’s relentless running condemned Tiafoe to a low point early in the second set, and de Minaur continued to hammer home his advantage.
In the sixth game de Minaur changed direction with a slice backhand that only narrowly cleared the net and gave Tiafoe no chance.
“Filthy. We need supplies to clean up after that one. Filthy good,” Jim Courier said in commentary on Nine.
John McEnroe replied: “Filthy good is right (but) Frances has got to be more alert to that.”
De Minaur failed to consolidate his second break late in the set but was striking the ball far too well to be under threat.
“He’s on fire. I don’t know what else you can say about it,” Courier said after the Aussie broke Tiafoe to begin the third set.
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But Tiafoe stepped it up with a series of high-powered serves, and de Minaur went away from the slice backhand.
“I’d like to see more of it from him. I think it’s been such a nice blend for him to keep Tiafoe off balance,” Courier said.
Instead it was a stunning cross-court forehand winner that sent Tiafoe crashing to the court that turned the match back in de Minaur’s favour.
“That was like watching a video game,” Courier said.
“The change of direction, sliding into shots, the ball was barely clearing the net, everything flat and accurate and eventually the running forehand was just too much for Tiafoe — down he goes.”
De Minaur will face 10th seed Alexander Bublik or Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the fourth round, with world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz looming for a possible quarter-final on Tuesday when temperatures are forecast to reach 43C.
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