By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Alex de Minaur used timely net rushes upsetting Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to earn his first career Top 5-win and set up a Paris clash vs. Frances Tiafoe.
Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty
Top 5-futility dogged Alex de Minaur throughout his career.
Winless in 18 prior meetings vs. Top 5 foes, de Minaur didn't get frustrated.
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The world No. 25 got creative.
Rushing net 20 times in the final set, de Minaur stunned third-ranked Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to score his first career Top-5 triumph and reach the Rolex Paris Masters round of 16 with his biggest (by ranking) win.
The fourth-seeded Medvedev double faulted twice in the final game, including a double fault into net on match point he punctuated by hurling his racquet to the court in frustration.
Tennis is all about timing and de Minaur said the time was right for a breakthrough that recalled Vitas Gerulaitis' famed proclamation ""And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row!"
"I just wanted to wait for the 19th game, why do it in the first 18, huh?" de Minaur deadpanned to Tennis Channel's Prakash Amritraj afterward. "Ultimately, it's been a great year. It's been a long tough year. Before this match, I had 44 wins for the year. And I just told myself I might as well get to 45.
"I knew it was gonna be a tough battle. He's an incredibly tough opponent. I've played him plenty of times. So I knew what to expect and I'm glad I played a very tactical match out there."
Winless in four prior meetings vs. Medvedev, de Minaur recalled pushing the 2021 US Open champion to three sets at the 2020 Paris Masters in shaping his strategy.
At heart, both men are precise counter-punchers. Today, de Minaur showed he's much more than a baseline grinder, deploying some superb volleys to unsettle the 6'6" Russian.
"I think he played pretty well," Medvedev said. "I think even third set I had the break up, and he played amazing game on my serve where I served only first serves, and he made some winners. So he played well. Didn't miss much.
"I guess [he] did the right choice of shots many times. Actually, I think I had my chances to win the match. Didn't use them. And he managed to keep enough pressure on me at the end of the match to win. So, yeah, credits to him, for sure."
De Minaur won 25 of 43 net points—nearly a quarter of his total points came in the frontcourt—tested the Australian Open finalist's passing shots by repeatedly attacking Medvedev's backhand and forcing the fourth seed to produce passes under pressure. De Minaur attacked net 20 times in the final set.
"I think when you're playing Daniil you've got to find a very fine balance between being solid and being aggressive," de Minaur said. "Obviously, we all know what he can do with his passing shots and with his movement around the court. I just tried to wait for the right ball and just back myself and back my volleys.
"It's something that I try to implement a lot more. I don't do it as often as I like. But I've got some decent volleys and I've got to use them more, that's for sure. I've done way too many hours with Tony Roche on court not to have somewhat decent volleys. It's still not perfect by any means. I still need a lot more hours on court with Rochey, but I've done enough to be comfortable at net."
Last week, Medvedev knocked off four former Top 10 opponents—Dominic Thiem, Jannik Sinner, Grigor Dimitrov and Denis Shapovalov capturing his 15th career title in Vienna.
Fourteen of those 15 championships have come on Medvedev's favored hard courts where his serve and movement are most dangerous.
Confronting a match point in the final set today, Medvedev banged a wide serve to save it.
Staring down a second match point, Medvedev boldly stopped play during a rally to challenge a de Minaur drive he felt landed long. Replay proved the Russian correct as Medvedev relied on sharp vision to stave off the second match point offering a sarcastic thumbs up to the chair umpire.
Fending off a couple of match points, Medvedev stood tall through a tense 10-minute hold, firing his 10th ace for 5-all.
Seeing match points slip from his grip didn't deter de Minaur who moved through a love hold for 6-5.
The Australian ran down a drop shot and won a cat-and-mouse net exchange for a 15-30 lead. A jittery Medvedev pushed a double fault into net handing de Minaur two more match points.
Medvedev rocketed a service winner off the line to save a third match point.
In a stunning end to a fierce match, Medvedev spit up his second double fault of the game into net then wound up and spike his Tecnifibre racquet to the court in disgust. After two hours, 45 minutes, de Minaur had his first-ever Top 5 win.
"Keep improving. Ultimately, that's what I've tried to do my whole career. It's been taxing on the mind probably more than anything. I'm happy where I am. I'm trying to take it day by day. I'm a person that expects a lot out of myself and that's probably one of my biggest things I've got to work on. At times it can help me out a lot, but at times it's quite harmful. Because I just want to do more and more. So managing expectations, taking it day by day and ultimately leaving it all out there every time I step on court."
The 23-year-old Australian raised his record to 45-23 on the season setting up a round-of-16 clash against American Frances Tiafoe. De Minaur, who saved 12 of 15 break points today, is 2-0 lifetime against the US Open semifinalist though they have not squared off in three years.
"I think I played Frances at a different stage of his career," de Minaur said. "Now, he's obviously having his best year. He's finishing the year very strong. It's gonna be an absolute battle. He's a talented player. It's gonna be an absolute battle."