At one point during this humbling defeat by world No 1 Jannick Sinner over Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park, the Australian’s mother Esther looked to the heavens. Her son was in the middle of his greatest test, a clash against the world No 1 as deep at a grand slam as the Australian had ever been. But above the open roof at Rod Laver Arena there was no god, only seagulls. And looking down again at her son, the man they called “Demon” was in hell.

In a warning to the other semi-finalists, defending champion Sinner blitzed his top 10 peer, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 in a brisk 108 minutes on a breezy Wednesday night. There was no sign of the illness that afflicted him in the round of 16. Rather the opposite, this was a performance that will make his rivals sick in the stomach.

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