A reflective Alex de Minaur has declared he will no longer be satisfied by leaving grand slams without a trophy under his arm after his first round victory at the Australian Open, and he took to task those who call players “greedy” for seeking a greater share of tennis revenues.

The No 6 seed beat American Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round on Rod Laver Arena on Monday afternoon, finding valuable rest for his legs after just 108 minutes of play.

He has already cast his mind deep into next week, even if he hasn’t made a grand slam semi-final before. “The way I’m feeling at the moment is that I’ve gotten to a stage where I’m not just another number in this draw,” he said. “I’m playing to win it and be one of those guys in contention.”

The Australian No 1 also lent his voice to calls from players for a greater share of revenues earned by the leading tournaments of the tennis tour. “It ultimately comes down to perspective, right?” he said. “It’s not about headlines, it’s not about we’re demanding more and that we’re being greedy.

“That’s some of the things that potentially the media grasps on, and that’s their headlines, but it’s all about perspective. What we’re fighting for is to better our sport and ultimately for the players to be better compensated.”

He said he recognised that players are already well compensated, but the current tension – which includes litigation in the US between players and grand slam tournaments, and an increasing number of players speaking up on the issue – was about finding a model for the long-term benefit of tennis.

“Ultimately, I think it’s going to be for the best for both the players and the tours and everyone in this sport if we all sit down in a room and we find ways to keep on improving and we keep the communication going,” he said.

De Minaur had been due to face former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in the first round until the Italian withdrew at the last minute, sending McDonald into the main draw as a lucky loser from qualifying. Although the American journeyman has a career-high rank of 37, he was no match for a focused De Minaur.

“It’s always a nervy start, starting in the Australian Open, playing at home, so I’m extremely happy with that performance,” De Minaur said.

The Australian has never made it past the quarter-finals of a grand slam – losing at that stage six times, including at Melbourne Park last year – but he has proven to be as reliable as anyone in the early rounds.

Last year he was the first Australian man to record a streak of four consecutive appearances in the round of 16 at his home major since Phil Dent in 1982.

De Minaur enters the 2026 tournament with a career high ranking of No 6 and no Australian man has been seeded as high at his home slam since Lleyton Hewitt in 2006.

The Davis Cup captain watched the match with De Minaur’s team, and he saw the 26-year-old break his opponent early in the first two sets.

Last year the Australian’s run at Melbourne Park was ended by eventual champion Jannik Sinner, but De Minaur had struggled for much of the tournament with his first serve percentage which dipped below 50%.

Against McDonald, De Minaur landed 52% of his serves. It was enough to hold every service game, and he only gave up a single break point opportunity, early in the match.

He said he was helped on Monday by the warm conditions, which speed up the ball and assist his serve. “It was a weird match, because there wasn’t really a lot of rhythm,” he said.

“I thought Mackie’s gameplan was exactly that, to play very aggressive and not really want to get into too many rallies. So, saying that, I had to find my rhythm a little bit on serve and maybe take a little bit of pace off just to try and make a bit more first serves, because he was having a crack at my second serve.”

Hamad Medjedovic awaits in the next round, after the Serbian beat Argentinian Mariano Navone in four sets.

“[Medjedovic] is extremely talented, he’s got a lot of firepower,” De Minaur said. “We’ve seen he’s already taken some big scalps in his career, [he’s] got a big serve, big ground stroke.

“It’s going to be up to me to try and neutralise as much as I can, and hopefully, not be a punching bag for it.”