Alex de Minaur has become the first tennis player under the age of 26 to reach achievement on the ATP Tour

Alex de Minaur marked a significant career achievement as he began his Qatar Open campaign with a confident win.

The Australian star has enjoyed an impressive start to 2025, reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and finishing runner-up at the Rotterdam Open, where he fell to Carlos Alcaraz.

Now competing in Doha, De Minaur is eyeing his first title of the season and started strong at the ATP 500 event.

De Minaur Claims Victory and Sets New Record

Facing Roman Safiullin in the opening round, De Minaur dominated the first set and weathered the Russian’s aggressive baseline game, taking advantage of multiple unforced errors.

Although Safiullin fought back late in the second set, leveling at 5-5 after De Minaur initially served for the match, the Australian immediately broke back and closed out a 6-1, 7-5 victory.

This win marks De Minaur’s 200th career hard court victory, making him the first male player born in 1999 or later to reach that milestone. It’s another significant step for the 25-year-old, who now holds 12 wins for the 2025 season.

Additionally, De Minaur joins Australian legends Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt as the only Australians to surpass 200 wins on hard courts.

De Minaur Reflects on Challenging Conditions

After the match, De Minaur admitted the conditions in Doha were far from ideal.

“These are tough days,” he said. “It’s cold, it’s windy, and you really don’t want to get out of bed. But once you’re on court, you have to do everything you can to win—whether it’s pretty or ugly tennis.

The wind made it really difficult to settle into any tactics, so it became more about surviving than executing a perfect game plan.”

De Minaur will now prepare to face Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round as he continues his quest for his first title of the year.