Alex de Minaur fell to
Andrey Rublev in the 2024
Australian Open round
of 16 but delivered one of the best shots of the tournament by hitting around
the net post in an incredible rally. The Australian secured two tie-breaks, giving him a 2-1 match advantage,
but Rublev staged a remarkable comeback in the last two sets, securing a
massive 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0 victory and marking his 300th match win.
This is the tenth time Rublev has reached the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam and
the third in Melbourne, although he has not been fortunate enough to progress
to the last four in the tournament, holding a 0-9 record in quarterfinals.
The 24-year-old Australian is the last local player to exit the
competition, with no Australian, male or female, reaching the quarterfinals. On
the men's side, the last to achieve this feat was Nick Kyrgios in 2015, while
the women had a notable representative in the former world No. 1 Ashleigh
Barty, who reached at least the quarterfinals for four consecutive years,
including the 2022 title before her retirement.
De Minaur will drop out of the top 10, settling as world No. 11,
displaced by Fritz's rise to No. 9 and only 50 points behind Stefanos
Tsitsipas, who fell three positions and is on the verge of losing the top 10
after five years. De Minaur will return to the court in three weeks at the ATP
500 Rotterdam.
This is the third consecutive year that De Minaur has exited in the
fourth round in Melbourne. The 10th seed in the tournament had progressed in
excellent form with notable victories over Milos Raonic (6-7, 6-3, 3-0, ret.),
Matteo Arnaldi (6-3, 6-0, 6-3), and Flavio Cobolli (6-3, 6-3, 6-1). Although he
didn't advance to the quarterfinals, he left one of the best moments of the
tournament.