Alex de Minaur continued his hot start to 2024 with a win over world no.2 Carlos Alcaraz in a charity match at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night.
The Australian produced his best tennis before riding a late much dip to run out a 6-4 5-7 10-3 winner via a super tiebreak.
It was a perfect preparation for the Australian Open 10th seed ahead of the major tournament, which starts on Sunday, January 14.
De Minaur's fourth top 10 win in a row
De Minaur has now beaten four top 10 opponents consecutively with his recent scalps also including Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz.
While it was only a charity match, a near-capacity crowd packed into Melbourne Park's premier arena to see a classic between two of the game's rising stars.
It was a rough start for the crowd favourite though, with Alcaraz breaking De Minaur's serve in the first game of the match.
However, De Minaur struck back immediately on Alcaraz's delivery to return the game back to serve.
From then on the first set was a tight affair with De Minaur's speed and defence from the back of the court allowing him to win the opener.
After surviving an early break point, De Minaur broke Alcaraz early in the second set and raced to a 4-1 lead.
But the Aussie either lost concentration or took his foot off the pedal to allow Alcaraz to return the match back to serve.
De Minaur even had a match point at 5-4 on Alcaraz's serve, but the Spanish two-time slam winner showed his prowess to save it and launch a counter-offensive.
The world no.2 broke De Minaur in the 11th game before serving out the second set 7-5.
As it was a charity match, the players engaged in a 10-point super tiebreak to decide the winner.
With the Australian crowd well and truly behind him, De Minaur raced to a 4-0 lead and was never headed, winning the super tiebreak 10-3.
Sit back and enjoy Aussie and World No. 10 Alex de Minaur's best moments from AO 2023 🔥
— Stan Sport (@StanSportAU) January 9, 2024
↳ Australian Open. First Serve Sunday 11am AEDT. Every Match. Ad-free. Live & On Demand. Centre Court in 4K UHD.#StanSportAU #AO2024 #AusOpen @alexdeminaur pic.twitter.com/hs9rNrycSR
"I heard a a pretty good quote: ‘How big would you dream if you knew you couldn’t fail?’ So that’s kind of been the motto," De Minaur said post-match.
"I’m pushing muself every day and hopefully the sky’s the limit.
"I wanna feel all the energy. I’m doing my best for you guys every time and, yeah, let’s bring the noise."
When is Australian Open 2024?
Australian Open 2024 will commence on Sunday, January 14 and become a 15-day event for the first time, finishing on Sunday, January 28.
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