De Minaur stuns Medvedev to reach French Open quarterfinals
Alex de Minaur ended a 20-year Australian hoodoo at the French Open on Monday, rallying from a set down to defeat 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 country to reach the final eight of the claycourt Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004, with his win on Suzanne Lenglen coming after Medvedev suffered a foot blister in the middle of the match.
"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."
Medvedev, a former Paris quarter-finalist, had only lost twice in eight previous meetings with De Minaur and took the lead with a break in the third game, but the 28-year-old was pushed hard in the following game before extending his lead further.
De Minaur received loud cheers from the crowd as he relentlessly retrieved shots in an attempt to mount a late comeback from there, but Medvedev wrapped up the opening set with little fuss, briefly dampening 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 tamely with an unforced error after taking a medical timeout midway through due to blisters on his foot.
With momentum shifting, the 25-year-old De Minaur raced to a 5-1 lead in the third set before trading breaks with Medvedev early in the fourth and pulling away for a famous victory.
"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."
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