Four-time Australian Open champion Andre Agassi is warning Alex de Minaur to take the fight to Rafael Nadal or face a brutal eviction from Melbourne Park.
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Agassi sees plenty of upside in de Minaur's game and is tipping the teenager to put up a mighty fight in Friday night's third-round blockbuster.
"Hell of a competitor, obviously. He's going to make you guys really proud. Already has," Agassi told AAP.
"Obviously his movement is fantastic. There's a lot he can do physically, I think, that he can do to make him a better player as he gets older and stronger.
"As of right now, he's just going to wreak havoc on guys just by giving them fits.
"So once he gets older and stronger, that's going to be a big change in his future."
But with de Minaur coming off seven matches in 10 days and a marathon five-set second-round escape against Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen, Agassi has grave fears for the 19-year-old against the most merciless competitor in tennis.
"The reward for playing a tough match is playing Nadal. That doesn't seem very fair," the former world No.1 said during a promotional visit to Melbourne for Lavazza.
"So if he's feeling it all, he's going to need to live with conviction, take chances and not hesitate because if he just gets into a physical battle, that's probably a losing proposition."
Nadal conceded just seven games to de Minaur in their only previous meeting, on grass at Wimbledon last year.
But de Minaur has climbed from outside the top 100 to No.30 in the world since then.
"Whenever he steps out on court, he always has that presence. No one can take that away from him," de Minaur said of the 17-time grand slam winner.
"I've just got to go out there, try to focus on my side of the court, generally just go out there, have fun. Hopefully take it to him."
The winner will face either Tomas Berdych or Diego Schwartzman on Sunday for a quarter-final berth.
Australian Associated Press