Milos Raonic and his failing body gifted Alex de Minaur a spot in the second round of this year’s Australian Open on a rollercoaster night for the local star.
A visibly agonised Raonic – who won the opening set in a tie-breaker – called an early end to their clash, no longer able to play through a hip flexor issue that forced him to seek a medical time-out after the ninth game of the match.
Milos Raonic concedes to Alex de Minaur at the Australian Open.Credit: Getty
The 33-year-old former world No.3 was only seven months into his comeback from injuries to one of his Achilles tendons and a toe that sidelined him from the tour for the best part of two years, and his future again now seems in doubt.
Raonic’s wife, Camille Ringoir, was in tears in the crowd as the Canadian great walked off court in obvious pain.
De Minaur had a difficult time blunting Raonic’s serve early in the match, and went a set down to cause some tension in the Rod Laver Arena crowd, but the Australian had worked his way on top when the contest ended at 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 2-0.
“First of all, I [wish] Milos a speedy recovery. It’s not great to see him like this,” de Minaur said.
“He deserves to be healthy and playing the incredible tennis he has done for so many years. As you saw, I was just chasing his serve for the better part of that match, guessing every now and again, and ended up getting a little bit unlucky to not win the first set.
“I got a bit tight at the end, but in the second set I told myself to restart and managed to jag a break out of the blue [in the sixth game], and it changed the momentum.”
The crowd erupted when a wonderfully struck de Minaur lob cleared Raonic at the net to give him a 4-2 second-set lead, and he levelled the match despite having to stave off a break point.
Helping the Australian’s cause was the decline in Raonic’s first serve, which plummeted from 68 per cent in the first set to just 48 in the next, with his aces also dropping from nine to three.
Alex de Minaur was starting to find his groove when Milos Raonic withdrew from their first round match.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The early night should be a blessing in disguise for 10th-seeded de Minaur, who has never had higher expectations on him in Melbourne after taking three top-10 scalps, including world No.1 Novak Djokovic, at the season-opening United Cup.
Those spectacular results also propelled the 24-year-old to a career-high No.10 in the world, and he remains desperate to make a serious dent in a grand slam.
De Minaur has never advanced beyond the fourth round at the Australian Open, but will fancy his chances of finally doing so this fortnight.
Up next for him is gritty Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who put the first nail in Australia’s Davis Cup final coffin with a hard-fought victory over Alexei Popyrin in November.
Arnaldi breezed past Australian wildcard Adam Walton in his first-round match on Sunday.
“He’s good, and obviously, we had a bit of an encounter at the Davis Cup at the end of the year,” de Minaur said.
“It was a brutal one against Italy, so hopefully, I can get some revenge for Australia.”
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