Alex de Minaur defeats Daniil Medvedev at French Open to achieve 20-year Australian first

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 2hr 49min.

It was a superb display of all-court tennis from the world No.11, 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 closing out 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.

He will play the winner of a clash between German Alexander Zverev and Dane Holger Rune on Wednesday for a spot in the semi-finals.

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.

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When Alex de Minaur last played Daniil Medvedev in a grand slam, the gutsy Australian — who once drew inspiration from the “blue wall” used to describe the New South Wales State of Origin team — hit the wall for the first time in his career.

But the world No. 11 is among those including his compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis who believe he is far better-placed to topple the Russian giant when they clash in a Rd of 16 match at the French Open tonight (AEST).

The lessons from that brutal 4th round encounter at the US Open last September are part of the reason de Minaur believes he is a realistic chance against the three-time Australian Open finalist.

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Pitted against the former US Open champion on his favourite surface on a stifling day so hot the heat seemed to sizzle in the air, the combatants pushed each other to the limit in an energy-sapping opening two sets.

Medvedev, who is renowned for his endurance, became increasingly heat-stressed as he tried to level the match at a set apiece and felt close to keeling over. But then he looked at his rival and noticed the zip de Minaur is renowned for was fading. The Aussie looked cooked.

“The conditions were probably the most brutal we have ever played,” Medvedev said.

“At one moment, I thought I was not going to (be able to) play till the end. And then I looked at him, and he is one of the best guys around physically, and he was not moving as well either, so I thought I would fight to the end.”

De Minaur, who has won two of his eight outings against the world No. 5, said it was the “first time in my career that fitness let me down”.

They meet in the same round as New York but the setting is vastly different in Paris given the temperature is far cooler and the surface is the lesser-preferred of both men. But that does not mean it will be any less of a battle given their style of play.

“Probably, against Medvedev, it’s going to be a lot of gruelling rallies, a lot of very tactical awareness from both of us, a lot of variety, a lot … of change of pace, good movement from both (of us),” de Minaur said.

“It should be hopefully fun to play him on the clay. I have yet to do that, so hopefully we can play a good match and I can go out there and show what I can do.”

Medvedev, who lost two matches in a row to de Minaur at Masters level in Paris in 2022 and Canada last year and then followed the US Open clash with a victory in Beijing in October, has no doubt there will be some cat-and-mouse tactics adopted in the match.

“Definitely. We both move great. I feel like we both know how to attack well, but at the same time we’re not someone who … can make one shot that’s going to decide the rally, so then the rally goes on and on, because we both defend well,” he said.

“I feel like we had a lot of good matches. Some he won. Some I won. Some were … better than the others. Some were maybe a bit worse level. All of them were fun, and I’m looking forward to it.

“We practised a week before Roland Garros in Monte-Carlo. I think we can both play well (on clay) and it’s going to be interesting.”

While hard court is Medvedev’s supreme surface, he did win the Italian Open last year and declared recently he “can do big things on clay”.

De Minaur, for his part, has learned to embrace the challenges that come with the surface and has enjoyed a consistent European swing, reaching the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo, defeating Rafael Nadal in Barcelona and then making the last 16 at the Italian Open.

If fitness was a factor in New York last September, strength has been the key to the Australian becoming increasingly proficient on clay as he seeks to make his second grand slam quarterfinal following a run to the last eight in New York in 2020.

His Davis Cup teammate Kokkinakis, who was edged by American Taylor Fritz in a five set thriller on Saturday night in Paris, is full of praise for the Australian No.1.

“He deserves everything that comes to him. (He is a) great guy, a Davis Cup teammate who always leads by example (and) most of the time wins,” Kokkinakis said.

“He just has the best attitude you’ve ever seen from a player and (he) really pushes everyone. He’s an ultimate teammate and he’s maybe not the most natural clay courter, but when you’re good, you’re good. So he’s a very good player (and) his ranking speaks for itself.

“He definitely deserves it and he’s added a bit more firepower to his game. He’s hitting his drop shot a lot better. And that’s a recipe for success on clay, so I think he would be using that a bit against Medvedev.”

While Medvedev is the superior performer in grand slams and has the advantage in their head-to-head, Kokkinakis believes clay is a leveller between the two, with the Russian seeking to reach the last eight in Paris for just the second time.

“I give him a good shot. Why not?” Kokkinakis said.

“He’s had tight matches with Medvedev before and beaten him and it’s not Medvedev’s strongest surface either. But again, (Daniil is a) great player, so it’s going to be tough.

“It probably has four or five sets written on it. But Alex is just a tough out (and) you have to play well to have a chance to beat him. It should be a good match.”

De Minaur is bidding to become the first Australian man to reach the French Open quarter-finals since Hewitt last did it in 2004.

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