'Need to find ... this legend': Alex de Minaur scours social media in search of young Roland Garros fan

At the start of his third-round Roland Garros match against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff on Saturday, Alex de Minaur had one goal in mind: become the first Australian man to reach the fourth round at the clay-court major in 17 years.

By the end of it, the No. 11 seed had another: reward the young superfan who vociferously supported him throughout a rain-soaked four-set win, and whom de Minaur credited with helping him record a best-ever Roland-Garros result.

Throughout the Saturday match, the boy, clad in rain gear and a backwards gray cap, was seen on television cameras cheering, clapping, and pumping his fists every time de Minaur won a point. Despite multiple interruptions for rain—the match itself lasted nearly three hours, but dragged on for more than eight hours on Court 14—his courtside passion never wavered. In tough conditions, the Aussie got a lift from the support: He cheered in the kid's direction, too, pumping his fist towards him at crucial stages.

After de Minaur finished off the 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory, he made a beeline for the courtside seats to give his superfan a big hug, a high-five, and handed him a towel from his bag.

"I'm looking at him and thinking of if I was a fan, I would probably be back home, because it was bloody cold out there," de Minaur said afterwards. "I don't understand what this kid is doing, but, oh, he gave me life. Every single change of ends I'm looking at him, locking eyes with him. I just gave him a hug. I was, like, Mate ... It was a relief more than anything. It was amazing. I appreciate this kid.

"The fact that he's spent 10 hours at the court today in the freezing cold pumping me up, I was happy that I was able to get a win together with him."

It went viral: On Roland Garros' official X, formerly Twitter, account, the video of the moment has been viewed more than 1 million times. De Minaur later launched a public plea on social media in search of the young fan, saying he "need[ed]" him in the stands for the next round.

"I need to find the name of this legend," de Minaur wrote on his channels.

"I would have given him everything in my bag," de Minaur said. "I just wasn't thinking straight with the emotions, but he deserved everything; racquets, shoes, whatever he wanted."

By Sunday morning, social media did its job: The Aussie posted an update to his Instagram story that he'd located the youngster. But will his good luck charm be in the crowd when he takes on Daniil Medvedev on Monday, seeking a first-ever Roland Garros quarterfinal?