Alex de Minaur was in trouble. He stopped feeling sorry for himself, and rose to the occasion on Rod Laver Arena against Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia
“Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I’m starting to look at it from a different perspective; it’s up to me to get him out of that zone, raise my level and show what I’m made of. That’s what helps me in these types of matches.”
Double major semifinalist and 2019 Open quarterfinalist Frances Tiafoe, who edged Argentinian Francisco Comesana in four sets, will be de Minaur’s next obstacle.
De Minaur is 3-1 in head-to-head, including a tight three-set win in Toronto last year.
“Frances is super dangerous. She plays well, she has a lot of firepower.” [and] He’s a veteran,” said the Australian No. 1. “We’ve had some battles in the past. I would expect nothing but absolute war against him. It looks like it’s locked.”
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Tiafoe, coached by Australian Mark Kovacs, is looking forward not only to the match against Minaur but also to the opportunity to play in the “big house” Rod Laver Arena.
“Sooner than either of us wanted [to play each other]But I’m happy to play against him. It’s going to be fun with all these fans,” Tiafoe said.
“I love playing on big courts and now the event really starts. [There are] You only have tough and good matches ahead of you and you have to rise to the occasion. He will come for me; I will come for him. “Tennis will get their money’s worth.”
De Minaur fought his way back with a grueling fight against Medjedovic, solid defense and the kind of mental toughness his 22-year-old opponent (seen as Serbia’s great hope when grand slam legend Novak Djokovic retires) is still looking for.
Medjedovic started the night on a mission to crush serves and groundstrokes with an obvious strategy to bully Minaur and keep points short, which served him well for a set and a time.
But he was showing signs of stress early in the second set and began venting his frustration on his team, complaining to the head referee and even giving the crowd a sarcastic thumbs up after pro-Minaur fans chanted a double fault.
De Minaur lands an off-balance backhand against Medjedovic.Credit: Getty Images
Medjedovic’s resistance had diminished when De Minaur leveled the match, but the break in play gave the towering Serb a chance to reset.
Instead, de Minaur took the first six points from the restart which quickly turned into a 4-0 buffer. By then the final outcome was inevitable.
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We don’t yet know whether De Minaur and Tiafoe will play during the day or under the lights in prime time, but the Australian is prepared for both scenarios.
“When I look at it, the big matches will always be played at night, so I need to play well in those kinds of conditions if I want to go deep in this tournament,” De Minaur said.
“I’m happy with the way I handled the conditions today. There were a lot of different conditions. We started with the roof open and it was quite swirly, then suddenly the roof closed and it was an indoor game.
“I think I’ve handled all this really well. It’s nice to have that confidence boost from having played a good game at night too.”
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