Alex de Minaur pulls off a one-of-a-kind ATP stunner
· Yahoo Sports
Alex de Minaur has secured his best showing at a Masters 1000 event this season following his latest win in Monte-Carlo.
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The Australian, who opened his campaign with a victory over Cam Norrie, followed up by defeating Alexander Blockx to reach the quarterfinals.
It’s been a tough stretch for De Minaur in Masters tournaments this year. He fell early in both legs of the Sunshine Double, losing in the third round at Indian Wells before going out in his first match at the Miami Open.
But things have looked brighter for him on clay. In Monte-Carlo, he’s off to a much better start and has already managed something that even Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner haven’t done this week.
Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty ImagesAlex De Minaur reaches a rare feat
No other ATP player ranked inside the top 50 has reached the quarter-finals or better across all three surfaces – hard court, grass and clay – so far this year. But De Minaur has achieved that milestone just four months into the new season.
De Minaur made headlines earlier this year when he secured back-to-back wins over Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz at the United Cup. And while there was plenty of buzz around those victories, especially against Djokovic, there was also some caution about reading too much into them due to fitness questions surrounding Djokovic.
How does Alex de Minaur compare with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal?
No Australian player since Lleyton Hewitt had started a season as strongly as De Minaur did before 2024. Not only did he secure seven top-10 wins in one season — something Nick Kyrgios never managed — but he also matched Novak Djokovic’s title count heading into May with two titles each.
Alex de Minaur back in Monte-Carlo quarterfinals for third straight year
De Minaur’s win over Blockx means he’s into the quarterfinals at Monte-Carlo for the third year running.
As reported by Opta Ace, he’s currently the only player on the tour to have achieved this consistency at the event over that stretch.
Carlos Alcaraz, who won the tournament in 2023, didn’t play this year. Jannik Sinner made it to the semifinals in 2024 but missed last season due to a suspension.
Novak Djokovic reached this year’s semifinals as well, but his 2023 campaign ended with an early second-round exit.
De Minaur’s best Monte-Carlo result came last year
De Minaur had his best showing at the Monte-Carlo Masters last season, reaching the semifinals of the event.
He started off with a second-round win over Tomas Machac after receiving a bye, then went on to beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.
The Australian followed that up with a dominant performance against Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals, handing the Bulgarian a rare double bagel.
However, De Minaur’s run ended in the semifinals, where he lost to Lorenzo Musetti despite taking the opening set.
Musetti went on to face Alcaraz in the final but fell short as the Spaniard secured his sixth Masters 1000 title.
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