Alex de Minaur has set up an Australian Open quarter-final date with world no.1 Carlos Alcaraz after destroying Alexander Bublik in the fourth round.
The Kazakh world no.10 was tipped to provide plenty of resistance to De Minaur but instead meekly surrendered 6-4 6-1 6-1 in only one hour, 32 minutes.
De Minaur will now meet Alcaraz in a steamy last eight encounter on Tuesday with the temperature set to max out at 44 degrees.
Bublik was expected to provide a real contest and did so up until 4-5 in the first set with neither player conceding a break point.
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But a loose service game from the 10th seed gave De Minaur break points with the set gift-wrapped via a double fault.
From that point onwards, it appeared Bublik lost his focus and will to win the match, constantly striking unforced errors in an attempt to hit winners past a dour De Minaur.
Bublik hit a magnificent tweener and even an underarm serve but it was all for show as De Minaur absolutely thrashed him across the final two sets.
De Minaur broke Bublik five times across the closing two sets as the Kazakh had no answers to the court coverage from the Australian.
The Australian should be full of confidence following his comprehensive wins against Frances Tiafoe and Bublik - but he will need all the positive thoughts possible against Alcaraz.
De Minaur has never beaten Alcaraz in five meetings and lost three times to the phenom in 2025.
The Spaniard has yet to drop a set in his four matches at the Australian Open, cruising past Adam Walton, Yannick Hanfmann, Corentin Moutet and Tommy Paul.
It is De Minaur's seventh quarter-final at a major - but failed to win any of the previous six, losing to Dominic Thiem (US Open 2021), Alexander Zverev (French Open 2024), Novak Djokovic (Wimbledon 2024), Jack Draper (US Open 2024), Jannik Sinner (Australian Open 2025) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (US Open 2025).