Alex de Minaur made a winning start in Doha on Tuesday, defeating Roman Safiullin, 6-1, 7-5, in the first round of the ATP 500 event.
And it carried much more weight than just a first-round win—it was also the milestone 200th hard-court win of his career.
The Australian, who just celebrated his 26th birthday on Monday, is the first man born in 1999 or later to accumulate 200 career hard-court wins, just edging current world No. 1 Jannik Sinner to that number.
MOST HARD-COURT WINS, MEN BORN IN 1999 OR LATER (tour-level):
- 200: Alex de Minaur [born in 1999]
- 195: Jannik Sinner [born in 2001]
- 159: Denis Shapovalov [born in 1999]
- 154: Felix Auger-Aliassime [born in 2000]
- 114: Carlos Alcaraz [born in 2003]
- 102: Miomir Kecmanovic [born in 1999]
No other men born in 1999 or later have hit triple digits yet.
De Minaur is also just the third Australian man in the Open Era to net 200 hard-court wins after Lleyton Hewitt (372) and Patrick Rafter (212).
