“This crack” How a De Minaur fan’s search inspired the victory against Medvedev | ATP Tour

Roland Garros

“This crack” How a De Minaur fan’s search inspired the victory against Medvedev

A young fan cheered the Australian on to the quarterfinals

June 03, 2024

Has Alex de Minaur found his good luck charm at Roland Garros?

The No. 11 in the PIF ATP Rankings defeated Daniil Medvedev in four sets on Monday and became the first Australian to reach the quarterfinals in Paris since 2004. The result delighted a young fan who witnessed the match at the Suzanne-Lenglen track.

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Two days ago, De Minaur noted the enthusiastic support of the French fan during his third round victory against Jan-Lennard Struff. The two celebrated the Australian star’s four-set victory in that match together on court and, although he did not know the fan’s name, De Minaur later invited his “lucky charm” to the match via social media.

“I need to find the name of this legend,” De Minaur wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Message me on Instagram, I need you for the next round.”

It seems that De Minaur’s public appeal worked. Two days later, the same fan was sitting in the stands, not far from his player’s box, to witness the Australian’s hard-fought victory against Medvedev. After his victory in the fourth round against the former world number 1 by 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 and 6-3, De Minaur invited the young man to the court and both gave a joint interview in French.

“He has achieved a miracle,” said De Minaur, breaking into a smile. “We may have to put him on the Tour week after week.”

“We found him, obviously, through the beautiful world of social networks, we ended up finding him. We took him to the game. He came with his entire team, with his teammates and his coach.”

“It was great to see him out there. Again, even on that big court, I could hear him after every point. He’s an unmistakable voice, so it’s great to see him. He’ll be around. I think he’ll be with me tomorrow on my training day and , of course, will be present in the next game.”

The eight-time ATP Tour champion will face either Alexander Zverev or Holger Rune in his second Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance.