Paris (The Hawk): At the Paris Masters on Wednesday, Australian tennis star Alex de Minaur shocked World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev with a thrilling 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 victory.
De Minaur appeared to have lost his early momentum in the third set against Medvedev after falling behind by a break, but he persevered to beat the 2020 champion and 2021 semifinalist Medvedev with a combination of relentless retrieving and fearless serving at crucial times, saving 12 of 15 break points he faced at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
"It's definitely a nice one to get.
Everyone is a little worn out at this time of year, but I'm quite proud of how I performed. I simply played very shrewd, "De Minaur stated.
"I was aware that the situation would resemble a game of chess where one player would try to provoke the other into aggression while simultaneously being careful not to overdo it at other moments. It was a fierce struggle, and I'm glad I was able to prevail "Added he.
In a wild final set, De Minaur came back from being down 2-0 before letting two match points slip in a titanic 10th game. Despite this setback, he played aggressively on the return at 6-5, and a double fault by Medvedev on match point at 30/40 sealed the biggest victory of the World No. 25's career.
De Minaur's victory over World No. 3 Medvedev was his first over a player in the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings in 19 attempts. De Minaur's triumph equaled his best performance in Paris, where he had also advanced to the third round in 2019 and 2020.
a few trademarks The Australian had already won the first set thanks to the De Minaur defence. On set point at 5-4, 30/40, the fourth seed frantically attempted to send up a high ball, but mishit the smash long. Despite Medvedev raising his game to win the second set and take the lead in the third, De Minaur persevered to win in a nail-biting two hours and 46 minutes of play.
The 16th seed Frances Tiafoe, who earlier defeated Next GenATP Briton Jack Draper 6-3, 7-5, awaits the 23-year-old in the third round.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who began his Paris campaign with a straightforward 6-3, 6-4 victory over Daniel Evans in the second round, will be joining De Minaur in the third round.
The 2019 semifinalist was thrilled to get back to winning ways in Paris after being forced to retire from his second-round match against Alexei Popyrin a year ago. It was his 58th victory of the season, which is a Tour record.
After the game, Tsitsipas remarked, "I was really looking forward to getting out there and having a proper match."
"I didn't have the best recollections from last year, but I tried again this year. It was a wonderful start, and I'm pleased with how I played and the level of tennis I brought when necessary "Added he.
In both sets in Paris, Tsitsipas broke Evans in his first service game and did not give up the lead. In an 80-minute victory, he hit 28 winners, including eight aces.
With all four of his triumphs coming in straight sets, the Greek currently holds a 4-0 advantage over the British player in their ATP Head to Head series. In his quest to win his third Masters 1000 championship, the World No. 5 will next compete in Paris either the 12th-seeded Cameron Norrie or a local qualifier named Corentin Moutet.
(Inputs from Agencies)