Listen here, Australia: Demon is the world No.6. Show him some respect

Alex de Minaur will probably be our last singles hope, again, at this year’s Australian Open. He is as reliable as your grandma’s Toyota Corolla.

It’s the same story as at eight of the past nine majors, during which world No.6 de Minaur reached the quarter-finals five times and the round of 16 in three others.

De Minaur and qualifier Maddison Inglis are the only locals to advance to the third round at Melbourne Park this year. At the time of writing, James Duckworth must upset two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner to join them.

Our media’s optimistic tennis reporting over the years has become the butt of international jokes.

The Tennis Podcast has a segment during this Australian Open in which the three hosts poke fun at our penchant for labelling overachieving local underdogs as “sensations”, while retired American John Isner described Australia’s media on the Nothing Major podcast as “super annoying” for how we “pump up” our players.

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“Alexei Popyrin, can he make the run count in Australia this year?” Isner said in a mocking tone.

Duckworth, Alex Bolt and Sam Groth copped a light-hearted drive-by in the same segment before fellow ex-American player Sam Querrey, to ram home Isner’s point, imitated in a dramatic, broadcast tone: “Is this the year Hijikata makes the second week?”

Unfortunately, it is not. Hijikata lost in the second round on Thursday, continuing a torrid two days when eight of the 11 remaining Australians exited the tournament.

That number would be nine with a Duckworth loss to Sinner.

Yet, the commentary on de Minaur, from fans to some media, focuses more on him not being able to conquer Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz – he is hardly a lone ranger – than him achieving feats no Australian man has since Lleyton Hewitt.

The comments under this masthead’s story on de Minaur’s second-round win were revealing and familiar.

One reader described him as “just a good honest Aussie hack”, while another criticised his lack of weapons, and one more opined that he “rarely played like a world No.6”.

The truth is that de Minaur is one of the country’s best athletes, and has almost single-handedly saved Australia’s reputation on the international stage in the aftermath of Ash Barty’s retirement after her drought-busting 2022 Australian Open title.

He has been doubted and underestimated at every stop, but continues to raise the bar as he takes aim at a top-five ranking.

De Minaur’s remarkable consistency in one of the most competitive sports on the planet should be lauded instead of picked at. Only a grand slam quarter-final?! He has unfortunately passed a threshold – to his credit – where anything but a grand slam title is viewed as a disappointment.

There was even an article last month in another publication that criticised de Minaur for not spending enough time in Australia and questioning whether we should feel patriotic about him.

No Australian except de Minaur has sustained any significant success since Barty, much like in Hewitt’s era once Patrick Rafter and Mark Philippoussis left the scene.

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There is reason to be bullish about our emerging female talent, from Maya Joint to Emerson Jones, Talia Gibson and Taylah Preston – but don’t expect a male world beater of de Minaur’s calibre any time soon.

James McCabe (22 years old, ranked No.173) and Edward Winter (21, No.498) are the only Australian men inside the top 500 younger than 24.

De Minaur is a rare species in Australian tennis, and his on-court feats are genuinely notable. It is high time he is appreciated and recognised as such.

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