Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur booked his place in the fourth round in Melbourne with a brilliant 6–3 6–4 7–5 victory over American Frances Tiafoe.
Cheered on by the majority inside Rod Laver Arena, de Minaur played exceptional tennis for the first two and a half sets, taking the racquet out of the American’s hands and stifling his natural rhythm.
With the finishing line in sight, de Minaur was forced to dig deep as Tiafoe refused to relent, but the Australian held his nerve to get over the line to the delight of the crowd.
The opening set stayed on serve through the first six games, albeit with several punishing rallies scattered throughout. In the seventh game, Tiafoe began to make inroads on the Australian’s serve, earning two break points.
But De Minaur held firm, saving both before turning the screw on the American’s next service game. Relentless in defence and refusing to concede any ball, he earned his first break point with a sensational winner on the slide, before outlasting Tiafoe to secure the decisive break for 5–4. The sixth seed kept his composure to serve out the set, to the joy of the majority of fans in Rod Laver Arena.
De Minaur, buoyed by his level and the support of the crowd, started the second set in flying form, breaking Tiafoe in the third game with relentless ball chasing and pressure. To the American’s frustration, he could find no way into the Australian’s serve, and it got worse when an error-riddled service game left him a double break down at 5–2.
De Minaur briefly lost concentration to allow Tiafoe one of the breaks back, but quickly composed himself to serve out for a two-set lead.
The third set started perfectly for the Australian, as he broke early before holding serve to move 2–0 ahead. There was a brief halt in play to attend to a medical issue in the crowd, but once play resumed both men rattled through the next five service games, leaving De Minaur 4–3 ahead with the crucial break still intact.
That advantage was surrendered in the following game, as the Australian let his concentration slip and handed the break straight back to Tiafoe. After the American held serve, De Minaur, who had been in full control, was suddenly serving to stay in the third set.
He did hold, before breaking Tiafoe in an epic eleventh game for 6-5, where relentless pressure earned him five break points, finally converting when Tiafoe dragged a forehand beyond the baseline.
He put a double fault behind him to up his serving power and move to 30–15. Frances Tiafoe kept fighting and raised his level when Alex de Minaur earned his first match point, forcing deuce. Another match point came and went, before an ace down the T gave De Minaur a third opportunity, which he took when Tiafoe sent a forehand long.
After the match, De Minaur spoke on court about the contest and how he manages the expectations that come with being a home-crowd favourite.
“It was a hell of a battle. I played some of my best tennis for two and a half sets, he just lifted it when he needed it. I just had to manage it. It was quite stressful at the end but I’m very relieved I got over the line.
“In my brain, I don’t associate playing in Australia as playing with pressure. I associate it just with excitement. Since I was a little kid this is where I’ve wanted to be, where I wanted to play with packed crowds. I’m truly fortunate to be in this position. And yes, it gets stressful at times but that’s only because I want it so bad. So I’ll do my best.”
Alex de Minaur will face Kazakh tenth seed Alexander Bublik in the fourth round.
