Alex de Minaur is doing well at the 2023 Australian Open, and he's certainly in the spotlight as the only Australian left in the ATP tournament.
In the previous two Grand Slam tournaments, Nick Kyrgios was the player that held Australia's flag high. This time, he was forced to withdraw from the event, and so it was De Minaur, who became the highest-ranked home player at the event.
After advancing to the fourth round, where he will take on the reigning Wimbledon champion, Novak Djokovic, the Australian made an interesting remark. Relationship between De Minaur and Kyrgios was discussed in the past, but they both stated that there's no tension between the two.
However, when talking about his upcoming clash with the 21-time Grand Slam champion, De Minaur appeared to take dig at Kyrgios, who advanced to his first major final thanks to Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from their semifinal clash.
"These are the matches you want to be playing. You don't want a walkover into the final of a Grand Slam. You want to be playing the best in the world. That's what I've got. I'm going to probably have the best in the world in front of me, and I'm ready for the battle. I want to take it to them and show them what I'm made of, you know, in the biggest of stages and just test myself out there and really take it to them."
One of the main talking points of this year's tournament is a left hamstring injury of Djokovic, and naturally, De Minaur was also asked about that.
"I'm not going to read into too much of that injury. Ultimately, he's one of the best players in the world, and I'm just going to have to take it to him and not shy away from the occasion. I'm going to make sure to make it as tough as I can and just bring the recent experience I've had on court and how I've been feeling."
"Just ultimately, it's not shying away from the opportunity and the occasion. I mean, these are the matches I want. It's going to be exciting. I will get fired up, get the crowd behind me, and I'll definitely have a good time."
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