Alex de Minaur sent himself into the fourth round of the Australian Open for the fifth consecutive year with a clinical straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Frances Tiafoe.
The Aussie is now the first to achieve the five-straight feat at Melbourne Park, with Lleyton Hewitt only doing it three times, while Ash Barty didn’t get past four. The AO moved from Kooyong Stadium to Melbourne Park in 1988.
“He’s in rarefied air,” Todd Woodbridge said on Nine after de Minaur’s win.
READ MORE: ‘My brain was somewhere else’: Weird moment in No.1’s escape
READ MORE: Astonishing new deal for 42-year-old 12 months after quitting
READ MORE: Kokkinakis’ sad realisation amid fight for singles future
Alex de Minaur celebrates. Getty
Former world No.10 Tiafoe was expected to cause issues for de Minaur with a lot of reaction to the Aussie’s tough projected draw before the tournament started.
At 3-3 in the first set, it looked like a tense battle was ahead, particularly when Tiafoe had a break point.
However, de Minaur defended and then broke Tiafoe to flip the script. The Aussie held from there to claim the set.
Watch the Australian Open live & free on the 9Network & 9Now. Stan Sport is the only place to watch every match, live & on demand with centre court in 4K.
De Minaur broke Tiafoe early again in the second set, and his momentum continued when he made it 5-2 on serve after the American ended up on the floor at one stage during an exhausting rally.
“He’s got his man down,” Woodbridge said.
“He’s been impressive this evening, Alex de Minaur.”
John McEnroe also had some strong commentary on Tiafoe.
“I expected more from Frances … at the very least the intensity and effort which seems to be flagging at the moment,” he said.
“Some of that seems to be what de Minaur is doing to him, who has come out and played great tennis so far, credit to him.”
New balls, and maybe McEnroe’s comments, fired up Tiafoe, who broke and held to make it 5-4, but ultimately de Minaur took the set.
In the final set, both men exchanged breaks with the score 4-4 at one stage, with Tiafoe seemingly a new man.
“He’s feeling a whole lot better about life right now,” McEnroe said
“He’s stepped it up, intensity-wise, energy-wise.”
Eventually, the set reached 5-5 before de Minaur broke to serve for the match. He had two match points defended by Tiafoe, while the American also managed to find his own break point.
But de Minaur held on to prevail at Melbourne Park and, after shaking hands, walked over to the parochial Australian crowd and let out one of his famous roars.
De Minaur admitted it wasn’t all easy, particularly as Tiafoe caused trouble late in the third set.
“Frances is a hell of a competitor, a hell of a player; it was a hell of a battle. Huge respect to him,” he said post-match.
“I played some of my best tennis of the tournament in two and a half sets, and he just lifted when he needed it and started going big … and started playing with some great depth and started taking the racquet out of my hand.
“I had to just manage it. It was very stressful at the end, but I’m very relieved I’m over the line.”