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Within the last hour or so, 4th seed Daniil Medvedev has been taken down by the talented Aussie, Alex de Minaur. In a three-set marathon that lasted 2 hours and 46 minutes, it was de Minaur who emerged with the win. On that note, I have to admit, I thought that Medvedev would run away with the match after winning the second set by 6-2 However, de Minaur battled, scrapped, and rallied his way to victory in the third and final set.
Both guys were looking absolutely exhausted at the end of the match. But de Minaur broke Medvedev’s serve at 6-5 in the third set to take a 7-5 win. This was actually the second three-set thriller that Alex de Minaur has been involved in at the ATP Paris Masters. In his opening match against Sebastian Korda, he also went the distance – taking the win by 6-4 in the final set.
That match was also a long-winded affair, with de Minaur needing 2 hours and 41 minutes to take the win. So amazingly, while he is now into the last 16, he has spent close to 5 hours and 30 minutes on court. One has to wonder what he’s got left in his legs after such grueling victories. Then again, he is still young, so he should recover okay before his clash with Frances Tiafoe tomorrow.
He will certainly need all of his energy to beat the high-flying American, that’s for sure. And with 4th-seeded Medvedev now out of the way, this particular section of the draw is now wide open. But that’s a different topic entirely. Since we are here for a quick recap on de Minaur’s win against Medvedev today, let me discuss the key elements.
Medvedev vs de Minaur – The Aussie Grinder Pulls Through
Contents
Prior to this match, de Minaur had failed to beat Medvedev on four separate occasions. However, it clearly turned out to be the fifth time lucky, and the Aussie grabbed this victory in impressive style. Here are the main points to discuss following the match:
12 of 15 Break Points Saved
Amazingly, de Minaur managed to save 12 of 15 break points faced in the match against Medvedev. Bear in mind Medvedev is one of the most solid returners in the game. And when facing these points, I found de Minaur to be highly courageous. He went big on certain serves and hit his spots with his groundstrokes to stay in the game.
Down a Break in the Third Set
When Medvedev took the second set, it really did feel like all the momentum was with the Russian. He went on to break de Minaur immediately in the third set too. At that moment, it seemed pretty unlikely that de Minaur would get the win. But he fought and fought to keep Medvedev fighting to hold serve, and he managed to break twice to win the set 7-5.
First Win Against a Top Five Player in 19 Attempts
Finally, I’d like to point out this statistic. To give this win context, de Minaur has played a top-five opponent 19 times in his career. And prior to this match, he was 0-19 against them. But now he’s finally got the money off his back and recorded a top-five win – well done Alex de Minaur.
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