Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur continued his hard-court dominance in 2025 after advancing to the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals on Wednesday.
De Minaur was clean in his 7-5 6-2 fourth-round victory over Portugal’s Nuno Borges, committing just 11 unforced errors compared to Borges’ 38.
It was a tour-leading 37th hard-court match win for the 26-year-old, and for the first time in his career he has notched 50 ATP Tour wins in a season, the first Australian to achieve the feat since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004.
“For me, it just shows consistency and that’s what I’m most proud of,” De Minaur reflected. “It’s an amazing number. I’m hoping for many more [wins] to finish off the year.
“It’s been a successful trip [to Shanghai] so far. I told myself at the start of the week it was all going to be a very big mental effort to go out there and compete and do your best every time you step out on court, but I’m happy to be in the quarterfinals and give myself another opportunity [to win a title].”
De Minaur progresses to his 10th quarterfinal of the season behind only Carlos Alcaraz (13) and Alexander Zverev (11) and will face either Learner Tien or Daniil Medvedev for a spot in the final four.
He remains on a final collision course with Novak Djokovic, who on Tuesday became the oldest player to reach an ATP Masters quarterfinal. Djokovic and De Minaur are the two highest-ranked players remaining in Shanghai and are in opposing halves of the draw.
De Minaur’s track record this year places him in good stead for qualification at the ATP Finals in Turin this November. He is currently ranked 7th in the ATP Finals race as he targets a second straight appearance.
“Every match is important, that’s the way I’m looking at it. Every time I step out on court, I’m not giving it more importance or less importance. I’m just going out there and taking it match by match,” he said of his approach.
“There are plenty of points up for grabs, and I know we don’t have many tournaments left, but a lot can happen. So for me, it’s all about doing my best and staying in the moment.”
Earlier on Wednesday, fellow Aussie Maya Joint’s Wuhan run came to an end after she lost her second-round match to Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-1.