Negative comments on social media regarding Alex de Minaur's quarter-final showing have been challenged by compatriots Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
De Minaur entered his last-eight encounter against world No.1 Jannik Sinner trailing 0-9 in the head-to-head count, and it soon turned double digits as the Italian proved a class above to win 6-3 6-2 6-1.
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Broken six times and winning only 10 return points, the 25-year-old was blown off the court, which silenced the home crowd at Rod Laver Arena.
"I'm going to be completely honest and transparent. It's tough," de Minaur said during his post-match press conference. "Honestly, it's tough going out there and playing someone like Jannik because ultimately, I think there are a lot of factors that vary into the scoreboard today. I think he's probably my worst matchup, and you can see it in the head-to-head."
His performance made tennis fans jump on social media and criticise the world No.8
One comment in particular from an X user riled up de Minaur to the point where he decided to respond and hit back.
Others were also questioning whether Australia's No.1 ranked player has reached his ceiling, with one person writing: "A limited player like de Minaur has no business being ranked No.8 in the world; it just shows the field generally is not strong. Pushernaur has no weapons, just a foot speed merchant. The talented ones are just inconsistent and he's benefitting from it."
"This is de Minaur's ceiling unfortunately, just doesn't have the weapons to trouble the absolute top tier players deep in a grand slam... he'll have a great career though inside the top 10," read another comment.
But there was another post which drew the attention of Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, with the former describing what he had read as possibly "the worst take".
Australian teammate Kokkinakis backed up Kyrgios' opinion, stating: "There's been some bad ones but this is right up there," when referring to the initial take.
De Minaur reached his maiden quarter-final at Melbourne Park, becoming the first Australian since Kyrgios in 2015 to do so.
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