If neophytes wanted to learn tennis on Friday afternoon, watching the quarter-final meeting between Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur, they will probably never come back. But for the players, after all, the manner does not matter. Alex de Minaur is heading to the semi-finals, and that’s all that matters.
This will be his first appearance in the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 tournament. The winner of seven titles on the ATP circuit did not steal it.
After eliminating Gabriel Diallo two days ago, he got rid of eighth-seeded Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev, winner of five titles this season, including two in Masters 1000, in straight sets of 7-6 (7) and 7-5.
De Minaur advocates a defensive style of play and somewhat on the heels. It is effective, but unspectacular. That’s probably why despite his 18th world ranking, he often goes under the radar.
“I’m happy with my mental state,” said a very calm de Minaur at a press conference. Never during a point did I feel that I panicked. I followed my game plan and stayed positive. »
Medvedev is one of the best Masters 1000 players in the world, especially when the tournaments are hard fought. However, de Minaur gave him no leeway.
“I think the key against Alex, to try and surprise him, is to hit hard and fast. Put the ball where he doesn’t expect it,” Medvedev said after the game.
Diallo had said it in a press briefing after his loss against the Australian: the latter returns everything, and when the players force the bet, the balls come back even faster.
Medvedev learned this the hard way. The Russian had won their first four duels. De Minaur had won the last, in Paris, last fall.
In Toronto, the Australian again toyed with his rival’s nerves. To the point of making him crack, in the most decisive moments. In the tiebreaker of the first set, the 18th-ranked player in the world trailed 5-1. But thanks to three unforced errors and a double fault by Medvedev in the last 10 points, de Minaur took the lead. sleeve. Medvedev finished the game with 22 unforced errors.
“You have to serve better,” explained Medvedev, in French, on how to adjust against a player who returns everything. With him on the return, you can do a big serve and a big shot that can get him in trouble and that’s what I failed to do today! I didn’t do it well enough. »
After the match, Medvedev was full of praise for his opponent.
If he recognizes that he did not offer his best tennis, the great Russian however immediately made it clear that it was necessary to recognize that de Minaur had offered fierce opposition.
“Oh, the potential is there, and he always had it!” I was very surprised to see that it was only his first quarter-final in the Masters, and that’s the difference. You have to play well in Masters and Grand Slam tournaments to earn more points. It is very surprising that he is in the top 20 without this kind of title, but he still has time to adjust. »
The next step for de Minaur is to finally crack the top 10, and he intends to take advantage of this week to achieve that.
“It’s been my goal for several years, it’s no secret,” confirmed the Australian. I always felt that I had the level to get there, but really not since the end of last year. When I got my first win against a top 5 player.”
This victory was against Medvedev, in Paris.
A few months later, de Minaur finally got the chance he had been waiting for. A title in Toronto would be decisive for the future.
He gives himself the right to believe it, because he feels good, he said at the end of the interview, in the language of Molière: “It’s a very good week, I’m very happy. For me, the best thing I’ve done since the beginning of the week is to hold on mentally. I just came back from Los Cabos and I didn’t have much time to relax. I didn’t play well in my first match, but there, he said before a long silence… I play my best tennis! Sorry, I tried,” he concluded, laughing to applause from some reporters.
