Australian Open | Home No. 1 Alex De Minaur perfectly executes first-round plan against McDonald

Alex de Minaur cruised to a comfortable victory over American Mackenzie McDonald, defeating him 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in his Australian Open debut. The home No. 1 put on a show for his crowd against an unexpected opponent in McDonald, who had entered at the last minute as a lucky loser following the withdrawal of Matteo Berrettini.

The World No. 6 needed less than two hours to claim the straight-sets win, not only holding his serve throughout the match but also converting a total of six breaks, conceding only seven games in total. De Minaur didn’t have his best day on serve—winning just 52% of first serves—but managed to maintain enough effectiveness to advance comfortably.

The Australian has now passed the first round of the Australian Open for the eighth time in his career and has a streak of 15 consecutive Grand Slam main-draw appearances where he has reached the second round. Ahead lies the challenging goal of at least matching the quarterfinals he reached in 2025, when he was eliminated by two-time champion Jannik Sinner.

A trouble-free day for De Minaur, boosted by a stroke of luck with Berrettini’s last-minute withdrawal It was a smooth opening round for De Minaur, who benefitted somewhat from his opponent’s last-minute inclusion after former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini withdrew. The Australian faced McDonald (No. 113), whom he had beaten in both previous tour encounters, the most recent being in 2022.

The first set was dominated by the home favorite, who completely took control at Rod Laver Arena in a festive atmosphere for the Australian crowd. After only a few minutes and a couple of initial service holds from each player, De Minaur stepped up and claimed two consecutive breaks to clearly take the first set 6-2.

In the second set, little changed, with De Minaur almost flawless on first serve and quickly securing two consecutive breaks to move ahead 4-0. He faced his first (and only) break point of the match, but McDonald failed to take advantage. De Minaur held firm on serve and closed the set almost perfectly at 6-2, after just over an hour and ten minutes of play.

Although McDonald managed to stabilize the third set, it was too late to mount a comeback. The Australian grabbed an early break and relied on his serving efficiency to maintain control. Without hesitation, De Minaur sealed the victory 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, totaling 32 winners—more than double McDonald’s 15. Additionally, McDonald committed 42 unforced errors compared to just 24 from De Minaur.

In the second round, De Minaur will face Serbian – former Next Gen ATP Finals champion – Hamad Medjedovic, who defeated Mariano Navone in four sets in his opening match.