Jannik Sinner overcame the challenge of Aussie Alex de Minaur on Wednesday in the QF round of 2025 Australian Open. The Fox’s domination over him was such that the match was finished in just 1 hour and 48 minutes. After this encounter, a social media critic mocked Minaur for not playing to his full potential. Surprisingly, the Aussie didn’t take long to hit back at him in an epic fashion. Now, Demon’s perfect response has earned him a huge applause from an American ATP pro who also didn’t hold back in slamming this critic.

A known hardcore fan of Novak Djokovic, Pavvy G mostly remains in headlines for his bitter takes on certain players. Jannik Sinner happens to be among them, who always remains on his radar. Pavvy has been after him ever since the doping controversy surfaced last year in August. Back then, he questioned Sinner’s integrity and wrote on X, “Sinner said they knew straight away that it was Clostebol. How did that they know that Clostebol that was the banned substance? People are free to make their own minds up but for me, this feels like it was a pre-planned excuse. Too many things don’t add up.”

Following the QF encounter between Minaur and Sinner, he got another chance to raise doubts about the Fox’s abilities. But this time, he seems to have used Minaur to target the Italian.

“Alex De Minaur has zero self belief that he can even compete with Sinner let alone beat him,” Pavvy wrote. He tried to imply that Sinner only won because the Aussie gave an “Awful performance.” To this, the World No.8 replied to him in the comments and wrote, “Hey mate, it’s a shame that you never became a good enough player to experience playing Jannik. I’m sure you would’ve put up a better performance and know exactly how to beat him. Wishing you all the best!!!”

Minaur has been receiving a lot of praise for his fitting reply to the critic. American ATP pro Christopher Eubanks came forward to extend his support to him while taking a jab at Pavvy G. Commenting under a post from Tennis Channel, showing Minaur’s response, he wrote, “I wish people would stop giving that clown attention. But with that being said, well done Demon 👏🏾👏🏾”

Meanwhile, Minaur’s opponent in the QF round, Jannik Sinner, had some positive words to say about him. Although he beat him 6-3, 6-2, 6-1, the World No.1 and two-time Major winner acknowledged the Aussie’s fighting spirit. So what did he say about the Demon?

Jannik Sinner admires Alex de Minaure despite dominating him in the Australian Open quarterfinal

After making into his second straight semifinal after last season, Jannik Sinner revealed, “I feel like today I was feeling everything. On days like this, when you break quite early in each set, it’s a little bit easier.” as reported by Tennis.com on Wednesday. Commenting on local boy Alex de Minaur, he added, “He’s a very tough competitor, an amazing player. I know so many guys came for him tonight”

Admiring him as a tough opponent, he mentioned that Minaur’s someone who can quickly grab chances. But fortunately, he didn’t give him any. “We played last year so many times. We tried to understand each other’s game, to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. These kinds of matches can go quickly but they can also change very fast if I go down with the level a little bit. He can take that opportunity, so I’m very happy with my performance today.” Sinner is now 10-0 up in the h2h tally against Minaur.

On the other hand, Minaur also lauded Sinner’s skills. According to him, he’s got an “aura” around him, owing to his domination against the best players in the world. “Yeah, I mean, he’s built this aura up from beating everyone. Like, that’s the thing about it, right?” he said as reported by The Tennis Letter on X, dated January 22. Adding to his praise, he said, “It’s not like he’s just had a good week here or good week there. He’s just beaten everyone.”

Further, he implied that going against the Italian feels like “a battle, it’s going to be tough, you’re going to try different things. But then you’re an hour and 30 in, and you’re struggling to win games, and you’re trying to find ways to get on the board. It’s pretty surreal.”

Sinner will now face America’s 22-year-old sensation Ben Shelton in the SF round on Friday. He will try to win this battle at the Rod Laver Arena and take one last step towards defending his Australian Open title.