It was the opening round of the 2017 Australian Open in de Minaur’s first main draw at his first major championship in his home country, when the then-17-year-old saved a match point in the fourth set before beating Gerald Melzer in five sets and almost four hours.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner dismissed eighth seed Alex de Minaur 6-3 6-2 6-1 to reach the Australian Open semi-finals and extend the country's decades-long wait for another homegrown singles winner at the Grand Slam on Wednesday.