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MEN’S DAY 9: Medvedev ousted by De Minaur, Djokovic wins another epic

general03 June 2024 23:58| © Reuters
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Alex de Minaur broke a 20-year Australian hoodoo at the French Open on Monday as the 11th seed battled from a set down to stun fifth seed Daniil Medvedev 4-6 6-2 6-1 6-3 and advance to his first Roland Garros quarterfinal.

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De Minaur became the first man from his nation to reach the last eight at the claycourt Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004, with the victory on Suzanne Lenglen coming after a mid-match blip for Medvedev following a foot blister.

"It's great. It's amazing. It's a great position to be in," De Minaur told reporters.

"It's not just myself. The whole country is showing what we can do and the strength of the nation is extremely exciting for even everyone back at home, just to see all the numbers we got in the top 100, and we keep on pushing out there.

"Just to show what the Australian chemistry is, I've got Thanasi Kokkinakis watching me today, supporting me. It's great to see, honestly.

"Unbelievable feeling to know you've got the support of your team mates and ultimately your mates on tour."

Former Paris quarterfinalist Medvedev had lost only twice in eight previous meetings with De Minaur and drew first blood with a break in the third game but the 28-year-old was pushed hard in the next before extending his lead.

De Minaur drew loud cheers from the crowd as he retrieved shots relentlessly to mount a late comeback attempt from there but Medvedev wrapped up the opening set with little fuss to briefly dampen his opponent's spirits.

Medvedev shrugged off a string of superb winners from De Minaur's racket at the start of the second set but surrendered it tamely with an unforced error after taking a medical timeout for blisters on his foot midway through.

With the momentum shifting, the 25-year-old De Minaur blazed to a 5-1 lead en route to winning the third set before he traded breaks with Medvedev early in the fourth and pulled away shortly after for a famous win.

"I'm pretty happy, not going to lie," said De Minaur, who beat a top-five player at a Grand Slam for the first time in his seventh attempt.

"It was a great match. I fought till the end. I managed to beat a quality opponent in a Grand Slam fourth round, which is the goal I had been setting for myself, to go deeper at these events. I'm proud of myself."

DJOKOVIC SHRUGS OFF INJURY, PIPS CERUNDOLO

Defending champion Novak Djokovic toiled to subdue Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-1 5-7 3-6 7-5 6-3  and reach the quarterfinals after the top seed recovered from a knee issue during the milestone victory.

The Serb, who is chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title, sealed his 370th match victory at the majors that broke a tie with Swiss great Roger Federer but his title rivals will be smelling blood after another up-and-down display.

The 37-year-old showed no early signs of fatigue from his marathon third-round win over Lorenzo Musetti, a 4-1/2 hour epic that ended in the early hours of Sunday morning, as he blitzed claycourt specialist Cerundolo in the opening set.

He sustained a right knee issue early in the next and needed treatment on court before saving four break points to draw level at 3-3 with a backhand bullet, but allowed his opponent a way back in by surrendering his serve in the 12th game.

Cerundolo grabbed another break early in the next set to go 3-0 up and comfortably got ahead in the clash as alarm bells began to ring for Djokovic in a second straight match at the claycourt Grand Slam he has won three times.

The finish line seemed to appear for Cerundolo when he went up 4-2 in the next set but the 25-year-old squandered the advantage as Djokovic sent down two big serves and produced a spectacular drop en route to holding for 6-5 before levelling the contest.

Having dropped serve after a fast start, Djokovic took a nasty tumble during a point and ranted about the state of the Court Philippe Chatrier surface before dusting himself off to close out a superb victory.

RUUD SETS UP REMATCH WITH DJOKOVIC

Casper Ruud continued his bid to reach a third straight French Open final with a four-set victory over American Taylor Fritz in the last 16, setting up a meeting with Djokovic.

The Norwegian seventh seed, who lost last year's showpiece match to Djokovic and the 2022 final to Rafael Nadal, battled past world number 12 Fritz 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The 25-year-old will face Djokovic in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, after the reigning champion's thrilling triumph over Francisco Cerundolo.

"I have nothing to lose (against Djokovic) and I'm going to try and enjoy it," said Ruud. "It's always tough. No matter where you play against him it's one of the toughest matches in our sport.

"I'm going to try and get my revenge but I'm sure he's going to be fit and ready to try and get into the semifinals."

He trails Djokovic 5-1 in their head-to-head record, but did win their only meeting this year in the Monte Carlo Masters semifinals.

Ruud has gone on to reach the final each of the three previous times he has made the quarters at a Grand Slam tournament.

ZVEREV SURVIVES FIVE-SETTER TO REACH QUARTERS

Alexander Zverev survived a second straight five-set match downing Holger Rune in a last-16 tie which ended in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The German fourth seed fought back to win 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 after four hours and 11 minutes and set up a quarterfinal against Alex de Minaur.

It was the second-latest finish in the tournament's history – after Novak Djokovic's win over Lorenzo Musetti which finished at 3:07 am local time (0107 GMT) on Sunday morning – ending at 1:40 am.

"What a match," said Zverev. "I'm lucky to be through."

He will be targeting a fourth straight Roland Garros semifinal after making the last eight for the sixth time in seven years.

Zverev is playing under the shadow of an ongoing trial in Berlin over allegations of assaulting an ex-girlfriend.

He also beat Tallon Griekspoor in a deciding set, in which he trailed by a double-break at 4-1, in the third round.

"I've played a total of eight-and-a-half hours over the last three days so I need to recover," said Zverev.

"I need to do everything possible to be ready for the quarterfinal match."

He also lost the 2022 US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz.

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