Dominant de Minaur serves up warning to his Open rivals

A man on a mission, Alex de Minaur has served up a warning to his Australian Open rivals while motoring into the third round in Melbourne.

Australia's eighth-seeded title hope continued his best start to an Open in four years with a 6-2 6-4 6-3 disposal of American qualifier Tristan Boyer on Thursday.

Revered for his lightning speed, de Minaur showcased his vastly improved service game and net play in another super impressive display on Rod Laver Arena.

He clocked one serve at 217km/h, fired down six aces and won almost 90 per cent of points after landing his first serve, while breaking Boyer six times in a thoroughly dominant victory.

De Minaur said his new armoury was making life on court much easier.

"Probably the biggest aspect has always been serve, right? Get more free points on serve, that's been a goal for a very long time," he said.

"Yeah, higher ball speed off the ground ultimately. I've always been able to be aggressive and have that mindset, but keep reminding myself that's the way I want to play.

"Ultimately that's come with work off the court, getting a little bit bigger and stronger. That's definitely helped in those areas."

Boyer himself flew out of the blocks, breaking de Minaur in the opening game of the match.

But the world No.136, contesting only his second grand slam match, would have been the lowest-ranked player de Minaur had ever lost to at Melbourne Park, and he never seriously threatened an upset.

From 0-2 down, de Minaur reeled off seven straight games to seize command and, to chants of "Demon, Demon, Demon" from the joyous crowd, ultimately prevailed in a tick under two hours, finishing with a blazing airborne forehand winner.

Chasing a fourth straight grand slam quarter-final berth and still unbeaten in 2025, de Minaur was most chuffed about winning almost 90 per cent of points after landing his first serve.

"I varied from going for the big ones down the T with some variety, with the sliders, and just felt like I was hitting my spots quite well," he said.

"Ultimately it's getting more free points. It's hitting your spot or setting up the next shot. Too often in the past I didn't have enough power where I was really playing that next shot on my terms.

"Way too often I was going for a 180 (km/h) body serve to try and get something short, but I wasn't really hitting 210s down the T or aces here and there to give me free points.

"Ultimately that was the biggest improvement of just adding 10, 15Ks on serve, and also trying to not jeopardise the accuracy, still hitting those spots.

"If I can do that, I'm going to hit those aces, have a high percentage of points won on first serve. It's definitely going to make my life easier trying to hold serve."

In matching his 2021 effort in reaching the Open's last 32 without dropping a set, de Minaur next faces Argentina's world No.32 Francisco Cerundolo on Saturday.

"I'll be ready for a battle," he said.

"It will be tough. He is a quality opponent, lots of firepower, great forehand.

"He has taken some big scalps and hopefully I am not the next one."

Fellow Australian James McCabe crashed out, beaten 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7-4) by American world No.42 Alex Michelsen on Thursday.

Despite his defeat, the 21-year-old wildcard still earned the biggest payday of his fledgling career, banking $200,000 for his second-round appearance.

McCabe will take plenty away from his second Open campaign after beating Spain's Martin Landaluce in straight sets in the first round for his maiden win at a grand slam.