Alex de Minaur kicked off his Doha campaign in style, securing his 200th career hard-court win with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Roman Safiullin in the opening round of the ATP 500 event. The milestone makes him the first player born in 1999 or later to reach this achievement, edging past world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
The Australian, who celebrated his 26th birthday just a day earlier, was in command for most of the match. He stormed through the first set and seemed poised for a straightforward win, leading 5-3 in the second. However, Safiullin fought back, breaking De Minaur’s serve and leveling the set at 5-5. But true to his reputation for resilience, De Minaur broke right back and sealed the victory in one hour and 38 minutes.
“It was a tricky match,” De Minaur admitted. “Cold, windy conditions made it hard to execute any real tactics, so it was more about survival. I just had to find a way to win, no matter how it looked.”
De Minaur’s consistency on hard courts places him in elite company. He now joins Australian legends Lleyton Hewitt (372 wins) and Patrick Rafter (212 wins) as the only Aussies in the Open Era to surpass 200 victories on this surface.
With 12 wins already in 2025, De Minaur leads the ATP Tour in victories this season. His strong form follows an impressive start to the year, including a quarter-final run at the Australian Open and back-to-back Rotterdam finals.
Next up, De Minaur faces Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp, whom he has beaten twice before, including a recent straight-sets win at the Australian Open.
Elsewhere in Doha, fifth seed Andrey Rublev moved into the second round with a straight-sets win over Alexander Bublik, setting up a potential quarter-final clash with De Minaur.
As the tournament unfolds, all eyes will be on De Minaur to see if he can keep up his winning streak and continue making history on the hard courts.
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