Managing a miracle, an inspired Alex de Minaur slides into Roland Garros quarterfinals

Alex de Minaur needed a gimmick. He needed a weapon. He needed something extra.

At 25, the Australian found himself stuck in the middle—of Grand Slam tournaments, that is. After reaching the quarterfinals at the US Open in 2020, he had never been back. Five times he scrapped his way to the fourth round at a major—three times at the Australian Open, once each at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows—and five times he lost there.

That included the last two Slams. In New York in 2023, he lost to Daniil Medvedev in four sets; in Melbourne this year, despite massive home support and a hot start to the season, he ran out of gas against Andrey Rublev and went down 6-0 in the fifth set. It seemed that De Minaur, who lacks the size and easy power of so many of his opponents, had to work too hard in best-of-five-set matches to win more than three of them in a row. Not that he was admitting defeat; like anything else, De Minaur thought of Grand Slam tennis, and the way you have to approach two weeks of best-of-five, as a learning process.

“Ultimately, you can put in all the work in the world, and I believe I'm one to do so,” De Minaur said. “But how you conserve energy, how you use your energy in these long, grueling five-set matches, there’s a lot to learn from.”

This time, on Monday in Paris, De Minaur found his something extra. It wasn’t an improved serve or better endurance—it was a new fan. Super-fan, that is. During his previous win, over Jan-Lennard Struff, De Minaur was loudly cheered by a French teenager. After the match, he gave the kid a hug, and later searched for him on social media.

“I need to find the name of this legend!!!” De Minaur wrote on Instagram. “I need you for the next round.”

Sure enough, the young legend was in Court Suzanne Lenglen for De Minaur’s fourth-round rematch with Medvedev on Monday. And sure enough, the Aussie’s new secret weapon worked. De Minaur recorded just his third win over Medvedev in nine tries, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. The former No. 1 made a run in the fourth, but this time De Minaur avoided having to survive a decider by turning the momentum back around just in time.

“He’s managed a miracle,” said a smiling De Minaur of his fan. “Might have to get him on tour week in, week out.”

“Even on that big court, I could hear him after every single point. It’s a distinctive voice, so it’s great to see,” added De Minaur, who plans to have him back for practice and his next match, if possible.

Super-fan or no super-fan, De Minaur was due for a win like this. He started this season with a good showing in United Cup, a title in Acapulco, a final in Rotterdam, and his first trip to the Top 10. Clay has never been his surface of choice; none of his 16 finals have come on it. True to form, he had a mediocre spring on dirt, despite recording a win over Rafael Nadal in Barcelona.

All of that changed on Court Suzanne-Lenglen: after winning the first set, Medvedev was treated for a blister on his foot, and the match turned. De Minaur broke for the first time at 3-2, and was in control for the next two sets. He won in his usual way, with speed and dogged defense, but also with with his underrated creativity. It was De Minaur, rather than Medvedev who was winning points with drop shots, topspin lobs, and forays to net. He hit 51 winners compared to 27 for Medvedev.

“I'm pretty happy, not gonna lie,” De Minaur said. “It was a great match today. Fought till the end. Managed to beat a quality opponent in a Grand Slam fourth round, which is kind of the goal that I had been setting for myself to go deeper at these events.”

“Mentally I was very calm. I knew that there was a good chance that we could even go into a fifth set, so, you know, I was ready for anything today.”

“Alex played better,” said Medvedev, who claimed his blister wasn’t a decisive factor. “My best was not enough today, so looking forward to next ones.”

De Minaur called this event a “shock to the system of everything I believed in.”

“I always thought that for me to play well on the clay I needed hot, lively conditions,” he said. “But, you know, this whole tournament has proven otherwise, right?”

Whatever the circumstances, De Minaur, who will face either Alexander Zverev or Holger Rune in the quarterfinals, has proclaimed himself a dirt ball convert—with tongue possibly in cheek. When the match was over, he yelled something into the stands in Lenglen. Afterward, he was asked what he had said.

“I screamed ‘I love the clay! I love it here! I can’t get enough!”