Alex de Minaur knocked out of home slam as Jannik Sinner's title defence shapes up
Jannik Sinner shrugged off rumours he was battling pneumonia to blow Alex de Minaur off Rod Laver Arena and out of the Australian Open.
Earlier on Wednesday, there were doubts the Italian would even take the court against the Aussie, but he showed no signs of illness to claim a straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win in under two hours.
"If he's got pneumonia, give me a case," John McEnroe said in commentary for Nine late in the clash.
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De Minaur barely got a look in, broken early in the first set, and then in the first game of each of the following two sets.
He served at just 51 per cent, which continued a trend that had plagued him throughout the tournament.
Alex de Minaur was knocked out of his home slam in straight sets. Getty
Down the other end, Sinner was able to hold comfortably. De Minaur won only 10 points on the Italian's serve for the entire match.
"Dominant," Todd Woodbridge quipped in commentary for Nine as the Italian brought up match point, which he sealed with another break of de Minaur's serve.
"He's got a lot to be proud of. He was just outmatched," John McEnroe said of de Minaur's performance.
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Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur after the match. AP
Sinner now holds an incredible 10-0 career head-to-head record against de Minaur, and has won 22 of 23 sets they've played.
"On days like this (when) you break quite soundly in each set, it's a bit easier," Sinner told Courier post-match.
"But he is a very tough competitor, an amazing player. We know each other quite well now. We played last year so many times and we try to understand each other's game, trying to prepare ourselves in the best possible way.
"This kind of match, they can go quickly but also they can change very fast. If I go down with the level, he takes the opportunity.
"I'm very happy about my performance today."
When asked about his illness concerns from earlier in the day, Sinner played a straight bat.
"(Tuesday) was a very easy day. I played just half an hour, 40 minutes with my coaches," he said.
"They gave me a good rhythm, but talking about general physical, you know, I feel like especially when you are young, you recover very fast, it's a bit different."
Sinner will play American Ben Shelton on Friday for a spot in the final.
