Time is of the essence the moment Alex de Minaur spots Sydney Harbour from the plane window and touches down on home soil.
It comes with the territory of being Australia's leading men’s player, and peaks around the first month of the new season. It's a mantle he has carried for the past six years.
MORE: All the results from A0 2026
True to a vow to be more selfish with his time in his ninth Australian Open bid, the world No.6 clinically cut down lucky loser Mackenzie McDonald in the first round on Monday.
In a highly efficient outing, the clock ticked over to one hour and 42 minutes for the 6-2 6-2 6-3 result.
“In a Grand Slam, the draw comes out and then you've got a couple days' worth of media talking about the full-on draw, right? For someone like myself that doesn't look at the draw and doesn't like knowing the draw, these are the things that you have to navigate and get used to,” De Minaur said.
“Over the years, I've gotten used to it, I know how to handle it, but still, it just adds extra elements to the start of a tournament. Also saying that, I just needed to recentre myself a little bit and remind myself of all the things I have been doing right and how well I have been hitting the ball, how confident I am on the court.
“Once you get started, those juices are flowing, then it's all happy days from there.”
The 26-year-old was initially slated to meet Matteo ‘The Hammer’ Berrettini, the big-serving former world No.6 who boasts a 3-2 advantage in their head-to-head, including on a hard court in Miami last year.
Injury again drew a line through the Italian’s bid, which opened the door for the 113th-ranked McDonald, who had pushed De Minaur to three sets in two prior tour meetings.
De Minaur in 2026 was a markedly more rounded prospect than when the pair last crossed paths in Rotterdam four years ago though, and he wasted little time as he tore through the opening two sets.
It did not bode well for McDonald considering the lowest-ranked player the Australian had fallen to at his home Slam was world No.32 Sam Querrey in the second round in 2017.
Forced to press for that extra fine margin knowing his foe’s speed around the court, the American was making mistakes.
He surrendered serve in the opening game of the third set on his 30th unforced error – double his opponent’s count at this point – before De Minaur consolidated on his ninth ace and stopped any late attempt to prolong his time on court.
The Aussie, who finished with 32 winners including 13 off his forehand, conceded that even when juggling time constraints he was learning to soak it all in along the way.
“Sadly I've got that tunnel vision of ‘I want more every single time’, so I am working to enjoy a little bit more and appreciate the journey and where I come from, where I am right now, giving myself a little bit of a pat on the back, but at the same time I want more,” De Minaur said.
“The plan is to go for more, keep on improving, keep pushing, and hopefully six isn’t my career-high ranking," he added.
The win set a second-round meeting with Serbian Hamad Medjedovic, a player he is yet to face.
“He is extremely talented, he's got a lot of firepower,” De Minaur said. “We've seen he's already taken some big [names] in his career," De Minaur said. "Got a big serve, big groundstrokes, so it is gonna be up to me to try and neutralise as much as I can and hopefully not be a punching bag for him.”