Alex De Minaur’s French Open dream is over after crushing loss – but Aussie gave the tournament one of its most heartwarming moments

Alex De Minaur was proud to have left his heart on Court Philippe Chatrier, but his hopes of reaching the French Open semi-finals have been crushed into the sands of Roland Garros by ruthless Olympic champion Alexander Zverev.

De Minaur was the first Australian man to reach the quarter-finals since Lleyton Hewitt 20 years ago. De Minaur’s unlikely adventure came to a halt when the towering German won 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

But De Minaur was far from disgraced in Wednesday’s straight sets at the end of a glorious breakthrough adventure at Roland Garros, in which he had proven he could hang with the best, even on his least productive surface.

De Minaur (pictured) can hold his head high despite his straight-sets loss to Alexander Zverev in the French Open quarter-finals

Clay is the Australian’s worst surface, but he still excelled in Paris

‘Demon’ became the first Australian in twenty years to reach the quarter-finals

“I put up a great fight… against a good opponent,” he said.

‘[I] If I had had my chances I probably should have taken the second set and we could have had a decent battle.”

‘I left my heart there. I did everything I could. It just wasn’t good enough.’

Although he lost, ‘Demon’ gave the Grand Slam its most heartwarming moments after befriending a superfan known only as Paul after the superfan’s support helped him advance in Paris.

He hugged the youngster on court after barraging non-stop during his comeback win over Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round, and then called on other tennis fans to help him find him ahead of his next match.

When De Minaur defeated Daniil Medvedev to reach the quarter-finals, he hugged Paul at the side of the pitch and told him in French, “I listened to you at every point,” saying he had “performed a miracle received’ thanks to his support.

Before the loss to Zverev, Paul – who is French and not Australian – was recorded wearing the exact same clothes as his hero after being given a smaller version of the star’s outfit.

De Minaur’s friendship with a young French superfan known only as Paul (pictured together) gave fans the most heartwarming moments of the Open yet

Before the loss to Zverev, Paul was seen donning the same clothes as his hero after being given a smaller version of the Aussie’s outfit (pictured)

Ultimately, Zverev proved too strong as he took his record against the Australian to 8-2 and reached a fourth consecutive French Open semi-final.

The 27-year-old was involved in two grueling five-setters in his last two matches and spent four hours longer on court than the Australian.

But there was no sign of fatigue, nor of any distraction from external events during his trial for the alleged abuse of an ex-partner that is still ongoing in Germany.

De Minaur attacked and did not give Zverev a moment’s rest as he tried to take the German out of his comfort zone.

But ‘Demon’ was left sighing over missed opportunities in the second stanza after collecting a set point and leading 4-0 in the tiebreak.

“Winning changes the whole game, but it didn’t happen. It slipped away,” he said.

The defeat gives Zverev an 8-2 lead over De Minaur, who lost a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak

It was a great draw from the start as a thrilling 25-stroke rally, capped by a drop shot winner from De Minaur, set the tone in the second game.

There were plenty of extraordinary exchanges, including a second-set epic in which de Minaur leapt into the air to miss Zverev’s lob but still had the speed to sink back, retrieve the ball and ultimately take out the point to dig.

But it wasn’t enough for De Minaur.

‘Of course, I had some good highlights, but highlights don’t win games. “I would rather be boring and win the match,” he said.

Once again encouraged by his new teenage French ‘superfan’ Paul – decked out in a replica of ‘Demon’s’ NSW blue kit – there was plenty of ‘blue wall’ resilience from the 25-year-old early on, but aggression was the key word.

A dismal service game at 3-3 effectively cost him the opening set, and he got his big chance to draw when he led 6-5 in the next, while another lovely lob earned him a set point.

Yet Zverev not only saved the match, but also came back from 4-0 down in a thrilling tiebreak to earn a set point by beating the Sydneysider in a 39-shot rally.

The Aussie’s next stop is the grass courts of Wimbledon, the home Grand Slam for his British girlfriend Katie Boulter

A shattered De Minaur then hit a forehand long, creating a sense of making the first comeback from two sets down of his career.

Another break in the sixth game of the third set, again ending with a double fault, seemed fatal to De Minaur’s chances of becoming the first Australian man to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals since Pat Rafter in 1997.

But he broke back with a fantastic drop volley before Zverev piled on the pressure again to break De Minaur for a fifth time and seal victory in just under three hours.

“I had a pretty good fight, I did my best,” de Minaur said.

‘He is a very good player, loves clay and plays well here. He deserves today’s victory, and all the credit.”