Alex de Minaur has never been closer to a major breakthrough at the Australian Open – but he is still not close enough.
A maiden quarter-final at Melbourne Park was in sight when de Minaur shot to a two-sets-to-one edge over Andrey Rublev on Sunday night, only for the fifth-ranked and combustible Russian to rally for a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-0 triumph.
Alex de Minaur fell short against fifth seed Andrey Rublev.Credit: Eddie JIm
“When I was losing two sets to one, and I broke in the beginning [of the fourth set] then he broke me back, I started to tell to myself, ‘You’re going to die today, but you will do everything’,” Rublev said.
“Somehow, I started to play better and better, and I found more energy, and I was able to win.
“It’s always tough to play against Alex. We played a couple of times and all of them were dramatic, like now. He’s one of the fastest players … and takes the speed, it’s crazy. You could see it was super tough to play.
“It’s just good to be in a quarter-final and we will see what happens.”
Andrey Rublev sealed the final set 6-0 to beat Alex de Minaur.Credit: Eddie Jim
Rublev goes on to face red-hot Italian Jannik Sinner, the only player in the men’s draw yet to drop a set in reaching the last eight.
The gut-wrenching defeat in a match that lasted four hours and 14 minutes delivered a third-straight fourth-round exit at de Minaur’s home grand slam and means he will lose his top-10 ranking.
The Australian star appeared the player best-positioned physically when the fifth set began, but Rublev’s explosive hitting came to the fore as de Minaur wilted after spending the night scurrying all over the court.
The second and third sets took two hours and 23 minutes to complete, whereas Rublev rattled through the final two sets in barely an hour as a captivating contest with razor-thin margins ended in one-sided fashion.
De Minaur was chasing another first in what had been a hugely successful summer for him, including making his top-10 debut and sandwiching a win over world No.1 Novak Djokovic between two other top-10 scalps at the United Cup.
These results continued the momentum from a career-best 2023 campaign where he broke new ground in winning an ATP 500 title and reaching a Masters 1000 final, on top of leading Australia to back-to-back Davis Cup deciders.
But there was still widespread scepticism about de Minaur’s legitimacy, given his modest record of reaching only one quarter-final from 25 previous grand slam appearances.
Those naysayers, who argue he is too small, too light and will never have the weapons to topple the tour’s giants, will feel vindicated after he fell short again, but that is too simplistic.
Against Rublev, de Minaur demonstrated his new-and-improved self, a player who can rifle down a big first serve in the toughest moments and is no longer willing to be bullied by the best.
He actually hit more winners (42-39) than the powerful Russian, and he played some of the best tennis of his life to pull out the second-set tiebreak.
Already a set behind and having just gone down a mini-break in the tie-break, de Minaur watched a Rublev forehand clip the net cord and drop over.
He had never recovered from a two-set deficit, so the situation was becoming dire.
De Minaur put on the afterburners like only he can and barely reached the Dunlop ball in time, then brilliantly poked a forehand around the net post to win the point.
That highlight-reel moment – followed soon after by a spectacular lob winner and a piercing backhand winner on set point – was the start of a match-altering period that put de Minaur on the cusp of victory.
But he had to dig deep repeatedly on a night he made barely half his first serves, including only 47 per cent in the third set, when de Minaur overcame failing to serve it out to rally in a second-straight tiebreak.
Rublev’s emotions were boiling over at that stage, but he pounded a cross-court backhand in the second game of the fourth set to snatch a break against the flow. They traded breaks in the fifth and sixth games, leaving the No.5 seed 4-2 up.
De Minaur had one last chance to snatch back the break, but Rublev staved it off then ran away with the contest.
Watch all the Australian Open action live on Nine, 9Gem, 9Now and ad-free on Stan Sport.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
