Alex de Minaur floors Daniil Medvedev to become the first Australian to reach the French Open quarter finals in two decades
Alex de Minaur has broken new ground in his blossoming career, dismantling one of the game’s powerhouses, Daniil Medvedev, and becoming the first Australian man to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open in 20 years.
The slight Sydneysider with the big heart and electric speed came from a set down on Monday to beat former US Open champion Medvedev 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 to reach only his second quarter-final a grand finale. slam.
‘Demon’ becomes the first Australian male player to reach the last eight with the French since his idol, mentor and Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt in 2004.
Alex de Minaur has broken new ground in his blossoming career, dismantling one of the game’s powerhouses, Daniil Medvedev, and becoming the first Australian man to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open in two decades.
De Minaur took a 3-0 lead in the third set
And a measure of the magnitude of his achievement is that in the past 42 years among Australian men, only Hewitt twice (2001 and 2004) and Pat Rafter (1997) have gone that far.
Of course, those two were both Grand Slam winners and became world No. 1, and this victory felt like a major breakthrough for the indefatigable de Minaur, the world No. 11, who had lost all six of his previous Grand Slam matches. against top five players.
Fifth-seed Medvedev had knocked out Minaur at last year’s US Open with a 6-2 head-to-head lead over him, but the Russian never enjoyed his time on clay. It was the Australian who used all the important opportunities to achieve victory. a last-eight date with Olympic champion Alexander Zverev or 13th seed Holger Rune of Denmark.
Too fast, too inventive, too attacking, he overcame a nervous start and grew in confidence, frustrating the man who played in six Grand Slam finals as he continually pierced Medvedev’s famous defense with 51 blistering winners.
The sun shone on the Suzanne Lenglen court for the first time this tournament and the sun boy also showed up to pull off a surprising turnaround after Medvedev, who had never progressed past the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, had kept him in the background at the start.
Medvedev missed four break points in the opening game, but cashed when De Minaur made a double fault and grabbed the break that ultimately sealed the opener.
The slight Sydneysider with the big heart and electric speed came from a set down to beat former US Open champion Medvedev on Monday
By cleverly varying the pace and height of his groundstrokes, Medvedev gave the Australian no rhythm to work with, and De Minaur’s early work was strangely error-ridden as he was presented with 19 unforced errors.
De Minaur was more aggressive in the second and took the initiative, but the match seemed to really turn around after the Russian took a medical timeout midway through the set due to a blister in his foot.
Moving on, De Minaur rocked Medvedev with a scorching backhand crosscourt winner to set up his first break, with the Russian offering a somber drop shot as a gift.
It was the prelude to an extraordinary run of seven straight games for the Australian, as his game blossomed in the sunshine, full of variety, including some tricky lobs that really saw Medvedev floundering for the first time.
De Minaur raced to a 3-0 lead in the third set, cheered on in the stands by the young lad who he believed had given him life with his passionate cries during his victory over Jan-Lennard Struff, before taking the 6-1 .
When Medvedev, after losing eleven of the previous twelve matches, finally got back on the board at the start of the fourth and broke de Minaur, he seemed less despondent and able to rally, but the Australian kept the pressure full as a thunderous sound came from inside. -out forehand gave him the final key break for a 5-3 lead.
