De Minaur has emerged as a crowd favorite among the locals. Nicknamed ‘Demon’, he is now the only Australian left in the tournament.
He is next to go up against one of the biggest opponents of his professional career, Novak Djokovic, on Monday, as one of the last 16.
“Look, it’s no secret that I love playing here in my backyard,” said De Minaur.
“I think the Aussie crowd is amazing. They’ve had my back from day dot, so I’ll always cherish that,” added De Minaur.
On Saturday, he defeated French player Benjamin Bonzi at the Rod Laver Arena.
After he won against Bonzi, he said: “Every getting a bit bigger, a bit stronger, working on different aspects of my game.”
“Overall, I’m getting better. I’m taking it to the top guys in the world, making it deep into Slams.”
“It’s all about chasing that goal of being amongst the best in the world.”
This is the second year in a row that he has made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open. Back in 2020, he had made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open.
De Minaur is becoming popular for his speed and tennis skills. He says that the support he’s gotten from the fans has made a huge difference in his game.
“I think the difference is that the opponents not only have to play against me,” he said.
“But they’ve got to play against me and the whole crowd, right?”
This is something that Djokovic commented on.
“It’s a big challenge of playing an Aussie guy here in front of his home crowd,” said Djokovic.
“I’m sure that the atmosphere will be electric and he’s going to have a lot of support, and he’s going to be pumped to try to win the match.”