U p until this year, Alex de Minaur would arrive at Roland Garros with trepidation, knowing, with all the will in the world, that his stay in the French capital would be short and probably brutal. At times, he almost felt like he was being bullied, a boy against men, slipping and sliding on clay with nothing to hurt stronger, more seasoned opponents. On Monday, as the sun came out in Paris for the first time in this year’s event, the 25-year-old became the first Australian to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open since Lleyton Hewitt two decades ago.
“It’s pretty extraordinary, if you ask me,” De Minaur said, after a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 win over Daniil Medvedev, the No 5 seed. “I always thought that for me to play well on the clay I needed hot, lively conditions. But, you know, this whole tournament has proven otherwise, right? French Open: Alex de Minaur beats Daniil Medvedev to march into quarter-finals Read more “It’s been a complete shock to the system, to everything I ever believed in.
But now it looks like it’s one of my best slam results. Looks like I’ve converted myself into a clay specialist.” It remains true that hard courts are still De Minaur’s best surface but his improvement on clay has not been by accident.
Instead, De Minaur realised that he needed to put on muscle and so he set about doing it just as he’s done everything in his career, with absolute and total conviction. Intense gym work has seen him grow stronger and the result h.