Todd Woodbridge sees a path to unthinkable victory as Demon flips tired narrative that big guns have too many weapons for him

MELBOURNE: What a difference a few months makes.

Alex de Minaur's mentality was decidedly murky as recently as October, when injury forced him out of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Hong Kong.

In an ominous interview, Australia's No.1 said he was battling "a lot of pain" and was set for scans to determine the path forward.

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"It's a hip injury, the one I sustained last year after Wimbledon which sidelined me for a long time so it is an area of concern," he said.

"So this is something that I can't take any chances with. Last year it sidelined me for almost three or four months, and I played the rest of the year with pain. Now, it's warning signs, I need to make sure everything is good. I don't want to have the same problem as last year. I need to be smart and look after the body."

Not many athletes, even elite ones, put themselves through the wringer quite like de Minaur.

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The 26-year-old has no other option but to throw his 69kg frame about the court at breakneck speed in a bid to stay competitive with the game's giants.

His body is co-operating for now and he is riding high with a career best ranking of world No.6.

Seemingly more comfortable in his own skin, and happy in his personal life, de Minaur has bit back in Melbourne when those fair but frustrating questions about a lack of firepower are lobbed.

"I'm currently six in the world. I've gotten there because I can play some ball too," he said.

Whether that all action game - and a new puffed out chest - will be enough to topple world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz in Tuesday's blockbuster quarter-final remains to be seen.

The issue there is that Spanish wizard Alcaraz hunts down balls with the same ferocity as de Minaur - while hitting them back harder.

But all de Minaur can do is keep putting himself in contention at the pointy end of grand slams.

"The whole tournament's as good as I've seen him, at a slam," Australian doubles icon Todd Woodbridge told Stan Sport's Grand Slam Daily.

"He has been as sharp as you could have hoped. His movement - we know that that's his strength - but it was fantastic (in beating Alexander Bublik in straight sets).

"And I think his serve has been that little bit better. Percentages are only increased slightly, but what he's been able to do is he's not 'over-serving.' He's using that as a point to get the next shot, a setup, and I think that's been really good.

"But to beat (Frances) Tiafoe and Bublik in straight sets as comfortably as he has done, indicates that he has a real shot at taking on Carlos Alcaraz.

"Can he beat him? We'll wait and see, but it's the best he's been going into a quarter-final. To be able to shut down Bublik on centre court like that was absolutely superb."

De Minaur dispatched 10th seed Bublik 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Sydney product has dropped just one set in four matches while Alcaraz has not dropped any.

"I think it's fair to say he's playing the best tennis he's ever played in his career," Woodbridge continued.

"He was close to that, a couple of years ago at Wimbledon, when he was to take on Novak Djokovic in a quarter (before succumbing to that hip injury).

"I think he's a better player now than he was then, and he does have the chance to potentially take out the world No.1. I'm looking forward to that. To watch the class of de Minaur shut it all down, finish it off (against Bublik), that is an indication of where he sits in our sport."

History is not encouraging for Demon fans.

Alcaraz is 5-0 against de Minaur.

"But he's had chances and very tight matches against him, so he knows he can hang with him," Woodbridge said.

"The thing with Carlos is that when it's his day, he can beat anybody with his brilliance. So it's up to Alex to try to hang in long enough, for him (Alcaraz) to come off his levels, and take advantage of those - if and when they happen. It's a tough ask, but of anybody in the draw at the moment, he's going to be able to challenge him in that space."