Young American Alex Michelsen has held his nerve to send Greek crowd favourite Stefanos Tsitsipas packing in a massive first-round boilover at the Australian Open, opening up a favourable draw for top local hope, Alex de Minaur.

Through to the quarterfinals of his home Grand Slam tournament for the first time, the Aussie also has a financial motivation for every match he wins.

Alex de Minaur overcame a one-set deficit and his own serving yips Saturday afternoon to defeat 31st-seed Francisco Cerundolo in a marathon third-round Australian Open match.

The Demon made light work of seed-eliminating Alex Michelsen in straight sets, and the home hope aims to end his losing run against the ailing top seed, whose physical decline against Holger Rune could not prevent a 15th consecutive ATP Tour quarter-final.

MELBOURNE - Alex De Minaur kept the home flag flying at the Australian Open as he beat rising American Alex Michelsen 6-0 7-6(5) 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time on Monday. Read more at straitstimes.

Alex de Minaur faces a devilish draw through the early stages of the Australian Open while Emerson Jones will take on former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the first round.

He refuses to say exactly what is wrong with him, only that he is “not there health-wise” and has been “a bit dizzy at times”. Read more at straitstimes.com.

De Minaur rose to World No.8 before the tournament started to give him an all-important top seeding at Melbourne Park, meaning he can't face a higher-ranked opponent until the quarter-finals. The Aussie has never made it past the round of 16 at his home slam but has the best chance to do that this year,

It's the biggest match of Alex de Minaur's career – an Australian Open quarter-final against reigning champion and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.De Minaur has never been to the last four in a major and will have to overcome a 0-9 head-to-head record against the Italian champion.

Almost everyone outside of Alex de Minaur’s team has him written off against Jannik Sinner. But the 25-year-old’s history of proving people wrong says he’s got a massive chance against the world No.1.

More remarkably: Djokovic has now advanced to his fiftieth major semifinal, after beating Alcaraz in a grueling four-set match that went to about 1:00 am local time in Melbourne. That number sets yet another Djokovic record in men’s tennis, further cementing the athlete’s legendary status.