It’s time for the tennis community to cheer ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi’ at the Court des Princes. Two mighty Australian tennis stars, Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin are ready to take on each other at the R16 match in the Monte Carlo Masters in just a few hours from now. The Sydney duo looks in superb form this year. This will be the first time for an Australian to reach the last 16 after Lleyton Hewitt and Wayne Arthurs did in 2004.

The winner of this match will become the first Aussie man to reach the QF in Monte Carlo in almost 25 years. After Mark Philippoussis in 1999, who will be the next Australian tennis player to have their name etched in history?

Alex de Minaur vs Alexei Popyrin: Preview

Alex de Minaur is in red-hot form this year and has already clinched a title this season in Mexico. He has lost only one set in this tournament so far and has conquered 54% of the points he has played. The 25-year-old Aussie tennis star defeated the three-time Grand Slam winner, Stan Wawrinka in his first match in Monte Carlo by 6-0,6-3. In his next match, he outclassed the Dutchman, Tallon Griekspoor by 2-6,6-2,6-3. Alex de Minaur hit only 2 aces in his previous match and made 3 double faults. Surely, this is one area he’d love to improve against his compatriot in his next match.

The ‘Demon’ had a win percentage of 78% on his first serve and 52% on his second serve against Griekspoor. But if we look at his overall record in his career, Alex de Minaur has a first-serve win percentage of 71% and a second-serve win percentage of 53%. On returns, he has won 32% of his first serve while 52% on his second. Playing on a clay court is always a challenging task, but looks like de Minaur is more than ready to bring his best version this season in Monte Carlo.

During a recent interview, he even admitted to gaining some weight to help him play on the clay. He has passed the test in his previous two matches, can he repeat the same in his next match?

Well, standing in his way to QF is 24-year-old Alexei Popyrin. The 24-year-old has also conceded only a single set throughout the tournament so far. He has scored 53% of the points he has played. Popyrin defeated France’s Corentin Moutet in his first match by 3-6,7-5,6-2 but in his next match, he did something which was pretty much unexpected for all the tennis fans.

Alexei Popyrin beat the defending champion Andrey Rublev quite comprehensively by a 6-4,6-4 margin in the R32 of the 2024 Monte Carlo Masters. This victory marked his sixth win over a Top 10 player. He hit 4 aces and made 3 double faults in that match. His win percentage on his first serve in that match in 76% while 58% on his second serve.

Talking about his overall points won on his first serve, he has won 75% of it in his career so far while he snatched 51% of points on his second serve. Alexei Popyrin has won only 26% of his first serve return points and 46% of it in his second serve. He won his second ATP title last year on clay in Umag. How far can he go in this clay court event?

Alex de Minaur vs Popyrin: Head-to-Head

Both of them have faced each other twice in their careers. Currently, they are all squared up with a 1-1 margin in their H2H. They first faced each other in 2019 in Brisbane where Alex de Minaur defeated Alexei Popyrin by 6-2,6-2. But in their next meeting, Popyrin took his revenge and defeated his compatriot by 6-0,6-3 in the first round in Paris in the 2021 season. Alexei Popyrin favors the clay and hard courts while Alex De Minaur has always picked the grass courts above all.

But with a win against world no.6 in his previous match, Popyrin is now ready to call clay his favorite. But little did he know then that it’d be “Aussies on Clay” a few hours later. He has managed to reach the second round of this tournament on two occasions i.e. in the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

Even De Minaur has only managed to reach the second round in his previous appearances. Both of them have improved their performances this year but who’ll have the last laugh in this intriguing contest this time around?

Prediction: Alex de Minaur to win this contest between the two Aussies

Popyrin’s best result this year came on hard courts of the Qatar Open where he reached the SF. But now clay courts have become his new favorite. He recently admitted that he’s become more comfortable on clay as it is giving him more time for his groundstrokes. Earlier Aussies found it hard to play on clay, but now things have changed and both Popyrin and De Minaur seem to be enjoying the dirt.

Alex de Minaur has a win-loss record of 19-6 this season while Alexei Popyrin has a record of 7-4. Looking at the number of big matches played this season and the number of favorable outcomes, including a title triumph, ‘Demon’ is the favorite over ‘Pop’ in this mega battle.