De Minaur flies like never before on the grass of Wimbledon | ATP Tour

Wimbledon

De Minaur flies like never before on the grass of Wimbledon

The Australian will face Djokovic or Rune

July 08, 2024

When making up the list of the most impressive players of 2024, the name of Alex de Minaur will be difficult to ignore. The Australian reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time in his career on Monday, adding the courts of the All England Club to a season full of successes on the road to the elite. With a fabulous adaptation to grass, the Sydney native continues to shape a dream: to become a candidate for everything in the British capital.

The world No. 9 imposed his favoritism in a tight match, stopping the momentum of Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to equal the best result of his career in a major. With the speed of his legs as his banner and an increasingly hardened mentality, constant in the best year of his life, De Minaur decided the match by collecting nine breaks, a monumental figure on a surface where bounces are low and opportunities are few.

“I’m very excited to be in the quarterfinals,” De Minaur said during the interview on the court. “I’m glad I can have another battle and give myself a chance. One thing you can be sure of is that I’m going to fight with all my strength, I’m going to give it my all.”

De Minaur continues to display ample confidence in imposing his strokes on grass, a surface on which he has a record of 8-1 this season. The Australian, champion at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in June, has found his cruising rhythm in London, where he has only given up one set to place himself among the eight strongest in the tournament.

Now, the experience will be in the hands of the aussie before facing one of the most important matches of his career. De Minaur, who already fought to reach the semi-finals of Roland Garros just a few weeks ago, will link together two Grand Slam quarter-finals for the first time in his career, accustoming his spirit to the pressure of the biggest matches in sport.

If the stage isn’t big enough, he’ll find some very important players on the other side of the net. The Australian will be looking to make it to the penultimate round of Wimbledon against either seven-time champion Novak Djokovic or world No. 15 Holger Rune, one of the most established young talents in the locker room.

De Miñaur adds a new demonstration of greatness in a season of enormous personal successes. The Australian has written the word ‘protagonist’ in many chapters of 2024, a season in which he debuted as a Top 10 in the world, revalidated his biggest trophy at the ATP 500 in Acapulco and in which he has reached three finals, being one of the most tenacious candidates for trophies.

Fils, meanwhile, completed the best Grand Slam performance of his promising career. The Frenchman, just 20 years old, secured his all-time best position of No. 28 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, standing out as a great future figure for French tennis.

Did you know…?
Alex de Minaur is aiming to become the fifth Australian man to reach the Wimbledon singles final in the 21st century. The Sydney native, with the goal just a step away, can follow in the footsteps of his compatriots Patrick Rafter (2000-01), Lleyton Hewitt (2002), Mark Philippouissis (2003) and Nick Kyrgios (2022).