Alex de Minaur broke a 20-year Australian hoodoo at the French Open on June 3 as the 11th seed battled from a set down to stun fifth seed Daniil Medvedev 4-6 6-2 6-1 6-3 and advance to his first Roland Garros quarterfinal.
De Minaur became the first man from his nation to reach the last eight at the claycourt Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004, with the victory on Suzanne Lenglen coming after a mid-match blip for Medvedev following a foot blister.
“It’s great. It’s amazing. It’s a great position to be in,” De Minaur told reporters.
“It’s not just myself. The whole country is showing what we can do and the strength of the nation is extremely exciting for even everyone back at home, just to see all the numbers we got in the top 100, and we keep on pushing out there.
“Just to show what the Australian chemistry is, I’ve got Thanasi Kokkinakis watching me today, supporting me. It’s great to see, honestly.
“Unbelievable feeling to know you’ve got the support of your team mates and ultimately your mates on tour.”
Former Paris quarter-finalist Medvedev had lost only twice in eight previous meetings with De Minaur and drew first blood with a break in the third game but the 28-year-old was pushed hard in the next before extending his lead.
De Minaur drew loud cheers from the crowd as he retrieved shots relentlessly to mount a late comeback attempt from there but Medvedev wrapped up the opening set with little fuss to briefly dampen his opponent’s spirits.
Medvedev shrugged off a string of superb winners from De Minaur’s racket at the start of the second set but surrendered it tamely with an unforced error after taking a medical timeout for blisters on his foot midway through.
With the momentum shifting, the 25-year-old De Minaur blazed to a 5-1 lead en route to winning the third set before he traded breaks with Medvedev early in the fourth and pulled away shortly after for a famous win.
“I’m pretty happy, not going to lie,” said De Minaur, who beat a top-five player at a Grand Slam for the first time in his seventh attempt.
“It was a great match. I fought till the end. I managed to beat a quality opponent in a Grand Slam fourth round, which is the goal I had been setting for myself, to go deeper at these events. I’m proud of myself.”
Sabalenka powers into quarterfinals
Aryna Sabalenka’s dominant run at the French Open continued with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Emma Navarro to reach the quarterfinals.
And watch out, because now the sun is shining at Porte d’Auteuil in the southwest of Paris.
“When the sun is out, I play with a lot more happiness,” said Sabalenka, who has yet drop at Roland Garros this year.
She certainly showed some joy after her fourth-round win over the 22nd-seeded Navarro, displaying disco-inspired dance moves on her way off the court to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” played loudly on the phone of No. 8 Ons Jabeur, who stood near a staircase leading to the locker room.
The Belarusian, ranked second in the world, is now one win away from her seventh straight Grand Slam semifinal appearance. She will face the winner of the match between Varvara Gracheva and Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals.
Other results included No. 12 Jasmine Paolini defeating Elina Avanesyan 4-6, 6-0, 6-1, and No. 4 Elena Rybakina advancing past Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-3. Paolini and Rybakina will meet in the quarterfinals.
“She’s a tough opponent. She’s moving well and hitting the ball quite heavily. I’ll have to focus on my footwork,” Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, said of Paolini.
With temperatures in Paris approaching 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit), the absence of rain allowed the matches on Court Philippe Chatrier and Court Suzanne Lenglen to proceed with an open roof.
