Alex de Minaur has become the first Australian man in 20 years to reach the last eight of the French Open after producing a brilliant performance to dethrone Russian star Daniil Medvedev at Roland Garros.

After dropping a tight first set, the 25-year-old performed brilliantly against the former US Open champion to progress to his second career grand slam quarterfinal 4-6 6-2 6-1 6-3 in two hours and 49min.

De Minaur will next face Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals on Wednesday night (AEST) after the German fourth seed outlasted Dane Holger Rune 4-6 6-1 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 in an epic that finished in the early hours of the morning in Paris.

SCARY NEW WEAPON HAS SPARKED A ‘CRAZY’ DE MINAUR REBIRTH. NOW, HE CAN ‘BEAT ANYONE’

‘MIGHT HAVE TO GET HIM ON TOUR’: Demon’s brilliant act as kid inspires dream French Open run

It was a superb display of all-court tennis from world No.11 De Minaur, who ran his rival ragged from midway through the second set in one of the best performances of his career under the beaming sunlight in Paris.

After recording his first win over a top five-ranked player at a grand slam when defeating Medvedev, who later said it was the best he had seen the Australian play, de Minaur screamed in jubilation at his supporters.

“Well, I screamed, ‘I love the clay. I love it here. I can’t get enough,’” he said.

“I’m pretty happy, (I’m) not going to lie. It was a great match today (and) I fought till the end. (I) managed to beat a quality opponent in a Grand Slam fourth round, which is one of the goals that I had been setting for myself to go deeper at these events. I’m very proud of myself.”

The Sydneysider, who has become increasingly adept on clay courts, deployed his drop shot and lob to perfection to befuddle Medvedev, who was not the same player after receiving treatment for a blister underneath a toe on his right foot midway through the second set.

Addressing the crowd in French after his triumph, de Minaur said he loved the “incredible ambience” on the court.

The 25-year-old ran his rival ragged from 2-all in the second set when reeling off 10 of the next 11 games to deliver one of the best performances of his career, and that includes his recent defeat of Rafael Nadal in Barcelona.

The Sydneysider deployed his drop shot and lob to perfection to befuddle Medvedev, who was not the same player after receiving treatment for a blister underneath the big toe on his right foot in the second set. Later, Medvedev said it did not bother him at all.

Sensing a vulnerability in his rival, de Minaur went for the throat, extending rallies where possible while also ensuring he used the entirety of the court to make sure the Russian was forced to change direction regularly.

De Minaur, who reached a quarterfinals of the US Open in 2020, will on Wednesday play the winner of a clash between German Alexander Zverev and Dane Holger Rune for a spot in the last four.

The Australian entered the Rd of 16 clash against Medvedev trailing 2-6 in their head to head, but he had beaten the powerful world No. 5 at Masters level in Paris and in Canada over the past 18 months.

Good mate Thanasi Kokkinakis, who sat courtside for the clash, was among those who believed the Davis Cup star’s excellent court coverage would enable him to trouble Medvedev on clay.

Also in the Australian’s box was the young fan who inspired him in a comeback victory over powerful German Jan-Lennard Struff two days earlier, with de Minaur putting out a plea on social media to identify the fan after that victory.

“He’s managed a miracle (for me so I) might have to get him on tour week in, week out,” de Minaur said.

“We found him obviously through the beautiful world of social media, we ended up finding him. We got him to the match. He came with his whole crew, with his mates and his coach.

“It was great to see him out there. Again, even on that big court, I could hear him after every single point. It’s a distinctive voice, so it’s great to see. He’ll be around.

“I think he’ll be … chilling with me tomorrow in my practice day, and of course he’ll be there for the very next match.”

Although Medvedev, a three-time Australian Open finalist, has an Italian Open to his name, he is a superior player on hard courts and the confidence that Kokkinakis and others had in de Minaur’s ability to prevail rang true the longer the match progressed.

The Russian seized the early initiative when breaking de Minaur in the third game of the match, though the process with which he did so was slightly dubious.

Medvedev clearly believed a ground stroke from the Australian had fallen long, but the call did not come and he waited until the Monte Carlo-based de Minaur had hit what would have been a perfectly weighted drop shot before raising his finger to challenge.

Despite the objections of de Minaur, the umpire awarded the point to the No. 5 seed and the Australian followed the debate with a double-fault to drop serve.

It proved to be the only service break of an even first set, with the Aussie narrowly missing a couple of opportunities to retrieve the break.

But the pattern that was evident as the set progressed, with de Minaur looking increasingly comfortable against the Medvedev serve, continued into the second and it was only a matter of time before the Australian broke through.

It occurred the game after the Russian, who had been run ragged by his more diminutive rival, called for treatment on a massive blister beneath the ball of his big toe on his right foot.

When play resumed, de Minaur was able to secure his first break for the match on his sixth opportunity when Medvedev netted an attempt at a backhand drop shot.

From there, it became a rout for the better part of an hour as the Sydneysider ran the Russian around the court with drop shots and lobs, ensuring that if Medvedev was feeling pain from the blister, he was going to be put through the wringer.

The consistency from the baseline of the Australian was superb, with his excellent court coverage allowing him to work his rival over, just as Medvedev had done to him in the 4th Round of the US Open in New York last September when de Minaur hit the wall in extreme heat.

Considered one of the tour’s toughest players, the Russian began to lose his focus mentally, becoming increasingly agitated by his impotency against de Minaur, who ultimately broke his rival seven times in a superb returning display.

De Minaur now has a chance to become the first Australian man to reach the last four at Roland Garros since Pat Rafter in 1997.

Zverev has won seven out of nine matches against the Australian, including their only previous meeting on clay at the 2022 Rome Masters.

Re-live every key moment from De Minaur’s win!