MELBOURNE, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Australian number one Alex de Minaur pierced 10th-seeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik's defences with relentless pressure to seal a 6‑4 6‑1 6-1 win on Sunday, reaching his second straight Australian Open quarter-final and seventh at the Grand Slams overall.
De Minaur, who is looking to become the first Australian man to claim the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup since Mark Edmondson's triumph 50 years ago, will face top seed Carlos Alcaraz and needs a maiden win over the Spaniard for a place in the semi-finals.
The first meeting between two top 10 men's players at the Melbourne Park major this year pitted Bublik's unpredictability against De Minaur's court coverage, and it was the Australian who landed the first blow by winning a tight opening set.
De Minaur hammered a forehand winner that sent Bublik the wrong way to earn two set points, and the 26-year-old benefited from a double fault from his Kazakh opponent at the most vital moment to grab the first stanza at Rod Laver Arena.
With the bit between his teeth and Bublik's level dropping a few notches, De Minaur raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set and pounced on his first set point to put one foot in the quarter-finals to the delight of adoring home fans.
The unorthodox Bublik dipped into his bag of tricks in the third set - the 28-year-old was unsuccessful with his 'tweener' but more fortunate with an underarm serve - but De Minaur did not wilt and promptly edged in front to secure the victory.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
