Alex de Minaur is on cloud 9 at the moment. The Australian star is into the quarterfinals of the US Open after defeating Leandro Riedi in straight sets. de Minaur has put hardly a foot wrong at the US Open and dominated his opponents en route to making it to the last eight of the tournament. What’s more, he also broke a rare record at the tournament, surpassing Patrick Rafter for the most hard-court wins by an Australian Open Era player with his 213th career hard-court win. As de Minaur achieved this rare feat, he made a heartfelt confession about his performance in the tournament.

de Minaur has had a fruitful past couple of months going into the US Open. He won the Citi Open title and made it to the last eight at the Canadian Open. Thus, a good performance at the US Open was coming from the Australian star and he was proud to have made it to the last eight in New York.

During the post-match interview after his pre-quarterfinal victory over Riedi, de Minaur said, “Super proud of what I’m doing and ultimately this is where I want to be. I want to be playing for the big titles; I want to be in contention. I’m putting myself in the right places. I’ve got another great opportunity coming up in the quarterfinals. I’m gonna go out there, have a swing and hopefully have some amazing crowd support like today.”

Meanwhile, this isn’t the only record that de Minaur has achieved this season. His performance on hard courts has been excellent this season and he became the first man born in 1999 or later to achieve 200 hard court wins. Additionally, he also set a single-season high for the wins on hard courts, achieving 20 wins in 2025. Thus, it wasn’t a surprise to see de Minaur extremely happy with his performances of late.

However, the Australian star will have his task cut out in the quarterfinals when he faces Felix Auger-Aliassime. Ahead of that encounter, de Minaur was all praise for his opponent.

Alex de Minaur assesses his quarterfinal opponent at the US Open

Like de Minaur, Auger-Aliassime is a good hard-court player and thrives on this surface. With a big serve in his armory, the Canadian star can defeat any player on his day. de Minaur admitted this fact while pointing out what he should expect in their quarterfinal battle.

The Australian star revealed, “I think Felix is that type of player that everyone knows that his top level is incredibly high, and when he’s playing with confidence, he’s very tough to beat. This week he’s obviously playing some incredible tennis, and he’s got a lot of weapons. He’s got a great serve. He’s got a great forehand. He looks to dictate whenever he can. In that matchup for me it’s all about trying to disrupt his rhythm, not give him the chance to bully me on the court.”

Interestingly, the two have faced off against each other five times before, with the Canadian star leading 3-2 in their head-to-head battles. Nonetheless, de Minaur would be eager to settle the scores when he faces Auger-Aliassime in the last eight at the US Open. Who will come out on top in this contest? Let us know your views in the comments below.