Tennis
2026-01-27 - Carlos Alcaraz vs Alex De Minaur
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : Australian Open Quarter Final
Tuesday 27th January 2025 - Scheduled 11:30am
12:30am (British Time)
Preview
A thumping win over Alexander Bublik has sent a statement out to the rest of the field that Alex De Minaur is determined to end Australia's sixty year wait to have a Men's Champion at their own Grand Slam. There hasn't even been an Australian Men's Finalist since Lleyton Hewitt did that in 2005 and was beaten in four sets by Marat Safin, and Hewitt has been helping Alex De Minaur with any advice he needs.
Before all of that, De Minaur has other milestones to reach- he has never reached any Grand Slam Semi Final and breaking that duck at the Australian Open will mean so much to him.
The level being produced in the tournament has to be hugely encouraging for his fans, but Alex De Minaur has long been developing his game to try and see if that can bridge the gap to the top two players in the world.
In this Quarter Final, the World Number 6 has an opportunity to show how much he has learned when he takes on the top Seed and a player in Carlos Alcaraz who has shown little sign of losing his appetite for more and more Grand Slam successes.
The World Number 1 won the titles in Paris and New York City, but he has never been past the Quarter Final at the Australian Open as Carlos Alcaraz continues to chase a record of becoming the youngest player to ever complete the career Grand Slam.
In each of the last two years, Carlos Alcaraz has fallen at this stage of the Australian Open in four set defeats to Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic- the loss twelve months ago to the Serb will have really hurt considering Djokovic had displayed signs of battling through an injury and was forced to withdraw after a single set of the Semi Final.
All of that is forgotten though considering the successes Carlos Alcaraz has had in the months since that defeat and his hard court pedigree makes him very dangerous.
The numbers may not be as strong as Alex De Minaur's in the four wins produced, but Carlos Alcaraz is very comfortable and still looks like he may have gears to go through.
He will also have no real concerns about a match up against a player he has beaten in all five meetings on the pro Tour, even if there will be plenty of respect for the way Alex De Minaur has been extracting everything from his potential.
Carlos Alcaraz won both hard court meetings, which both took place on indoor courts in 2025, and he was able to break serve four times in each, while dropping serve twice.
As well as the home favourite has been serving this week, Alex De Minaur will recognise that the return player in front of him is more dangerous than most and that is going to be a factor. The pressure only builds when you think of how well Carlos Alcaraz has been serving and an entertaining match should eventually end with the top Seed moving through with enough breaks of serve to cover this spread, even if he is to drop a set.
Prediction
Look for the top Seed to earn a maiden spot in the Australian Open Semi Final as Carlos Alcaraz chases the career Grand Slam.
The Pick :
Carlos Alcaraz 3-0 Alex De Minaur
