Alex de Minaur’s running joke this claycourt season revolves around his evolution into a “dirt dog”.
This is the same de Minaur who walked through the gates at Roland-Garros last year with a reputation within his tight-knit team for complaining about playing on clay, and at that time holding a 25-31 career tour-level record on the surface.
Alex de Minaur once hated playing on clay, but now believes he can beat anyone on the surface.Credit: Getty Images
The Australian star went on to reach his second-ever grand slam quarter-final – upsetting Daniil Medvedev before a tight three-set defeat to Alex Zverev – to transform his belief.
That de Minaur achieved that in wet and cool conditions rather than the “hot, lively” environment he felt he needed to thrive on clay made the feat even more remarkable to him.
He made the last eight at every major since, including a maiden Australian Open quarter-final to start this year that extended his streak to four.
What has become obvious is that de Minaur is extremely confident about, and proud of, his new-found claycourt prowess.
“I’m close to my peak on clay, I believe, but right now, I see myself ready to beat anyone on this surface,” de Minaur said.
“Three years ago, this part of the season was difficult for me because I couldn’t deliver my usual competitiveness. My goal was always to be solid on all surfaces and be able to compete at my highest level every week of the year.”
Mission accomplished: de Minaur, one of 16 Australians contesting the claycourt slam this fortnight, has proven across the past two months that his claycourt efforts a year ago were no fluke.
It took defending Roland-Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz, Italian top-tenner Lorenzo Musetti (twice) and American star Tommy Paul – the 2015 junior winner in Paris – to beat him in his four lead-in clay tournaments.
Alex de Minaur’s potential path to the final
First round: Laslo Djere (Serbia)
Second round: Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan)
Third round: 19-Jakub Mensik (Czech Republic)
Fourth round: 5-Jack Draper (Great Britain)
Quarter-finals: 1-Jannik Sinner (Italy)
Semi-finals: 3-Alexander Zverev (Germany)
Final: 2-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
Musetti pipped de Minaur for a top-eight seeding, meaning Australia’s headline act will likely need to account for Czech rising star Jakub Mensik and fifth-seeded Brit Jack Draper to extend his last-eight run at majors.
First, the 26-year-old must face off with Serbia’s Laslo Djere, who he boasts a 3-0 head-to-head record against, before meeting the winner between countryman James Duckworth and former world No.17 Alexander Bublik.
Draper comfortably beat a physically compromised de Minaur in last year’s US Open quarter-finals, but the Australian won their other four meetings.
However, Draper has surged from a ranking of 18th to a career-high No.5 this season, including capturing the Indian Wells title and pushing Casper Ruud to three sets in the Masters 1000 final on clay in Madrid.
Jack Draper hugs de Minaur after winning their US Open quarter-final in September last year.Credit: AP
De Minaur’s significant improvement on clay owes, in his words, to his dedication to strengthening his lower body, moving better on the surface and increasing the power of his shots.
The numbers paint a clear picture of how that extra strength has paid off, particularly on serve, where he has sacrificed a higher first-serve percentage searching for cheaper points.
De Minaur’s first-serve percentage on the red dirt dropped each year from 2022 to last season, from 58 per cent to 54 before a slight rise to 55 this year. The strategy has worked, given the world No.9’s points won on his first delivery spiked in that period from 64 per cent to a high of 74 per cent in 2025.
His total service points won have also gone up in each of those seasons from 57 per cent to 65, while he has climbed from the tour’s eighth-best returner on clay in 2022 to No.1 this year.
De Minaur’s satisfaction was most obvious after he defeated Medvedev in the fourth round in Paris last year, when he turned and bellowed in jovial fashion towards his player box.
“I screamed, ‘I love the clay. I love it here – I can’t get enough’,” a smiling de Minaur told reporters afterwards. “I’m a clay specialist now.”
Meanwhile, Daria Kasatkina will make her grand slam debut for her adopted country as the No.17 seed, while Alexei Popyrin is the 25th men’s seed as he seeks to end a five-match losing streak at the event.
Popyrin, the 2017 Roland-Garros boys’ singles winner, will arrive with confidence after reaching the quarter-finals in Geneva this week.
Maya Joint advanced to her first WTA Tour singles final in Rabat, Morocco, when compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic retired after losing the first set 6-4. They will clash again in the opening round in Paris, but Joint will first try to defeat Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian in the Rabat final.
Cristian faces another Australian, Kim Birrell, in her Roland-Garros opener.
Daria Saville qualified to increase Australia’s main draw presence to 16, but faces a tough first-round match against Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
Jordan Thompson, Adam Walton, James Duckworth, Chris O’Connell, Rinky Hijikata, Aleks Vukic, Olivia Gadecki and wildcards Tristan Schoolkate and Destanee Aiava round out the Australian contingent.
Australian first-round Roland-Garros match-ups
Men: Jordan Thompson v Jiri Lehecka (Czech Republic)
Adam Walton v Q-Maximilian Marterer (Germany)
9-Alex de Minaur v Laslo Djere (Serbia)
James Duckworth v Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan)
Chris O’Connell v 22-Ugo Humbert (France)
Rinky Hijikata v Reilly Opelka (USA)
25-Alexei Popyrin v Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan)
Aleks Vukic v 24-Karen Khachanov (Russia)
WC-Tristan Schoolkate v Marton Fucsovics (Hungary)
Women: WC-Destanee Aiava v Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine)
Ajla Tomljanovic v Maya Joint
Kim Birrell v Jaqueline Cristian (Romania)
17-Daria Kasatkina v Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic)
Q-Daria Saville v 7-Madison Keys (USA)
Olivia Gadecki v 2-Coco Gauff (USA)
Watch all the Roland-Garros action on Stan live and on demand with no ads in play, starting Sunday night, May 25 from 7pm AEST.
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