By avenging his US Open defeat to Jack Draper, Alex de Minaur is through to the Paris Masters quarterfinals, and rises to eighth place in the race to the ATP Finals.
Paris, France, 1 November 2024 | Ian Chadband (AAP)
Alex de Minaur has turned the tables on his US Open conqueror Jack Draper, battling back for a victory in the Paris Masters that propels him to the verge of becoming the Australian in 20 years to make the ATP Finals.
De Minaur’s 5-7 6-2 6-3 victory at the Palais Omnisports on Thursday not only booked the Sydneysider a place in the quarterfinals, it also took him, provisionally, into the eighth and final spot in the race to make the end-of-season championship in Turin.
Keeping his Turin dream alive 😮💨@alexdeminaur ends Draper's unbeaten run winning 5-7 6-2 6-3 to move into the last 8 in Paris#RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/1nhw4NbRoy
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 31, 2024
The field won’t be confirmed until after next week’s final qualifying tournaments in Belgrade – where De Minaur will be top seed – and Moselle, but the 25-year-old is now poised to become the first Aussie since his Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt in 2004 to compete at the ATP Finals.
It ended a stirring day for Australian men’s tennis with 30-year-old Jordan Thompson reaching a Masters 1000 quarterfinal for the first time in his late-blooming career with a 7-5 7-6(5) win over French veteran Adrian Mannarino.
> READ MORE: Thompson reaches first Masters quarterfinal in Paris
On a day featuring three Aussies in the last 16 at a Masters 1000 for the first time in 24 years, Alexei Popyrin succumbed 7-6(5) 6-4 to in-form Karen Khachanov, a round after his shock win over Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday.
This marks the first time in the tournament’s 38-year history at Bercy that two Australians have reached the singles quarterfinals at the Paris Masters.
De Minaur, contemplating how he’d battled through injury woes to join the top eight, still wasn’t taking his Turin place as read.
“You can never say ‘job done’ in the middle of a tournament, that’s not in my DNA,” he said.
“Obviously I’m super-stoked with the win, but I will keep on doing my best, keep on trying to win more matches.
“It took every ounce from me and I am just happy I was able to rally. I’m going to put my body on the line, try my hardest, show my opponent that I can do that all day.”
It will go down as one of ‘Demon’s’ best wins after world No.15 Draper, on a seven-match win streak after his Vienna Open triumph, threatened to overpower him and repeat his Flushing Meadows victory.
Draper blitzed 5-2 ahead in the opener, including a run of 14 straight winning points, before De Minaur began to find his range, and though the Australian still lost the opening stanza, he increasingly defused the Briton’s power while starting to dictate most of the rallies.
Producing the compelling, relentless fare that marked the first half of his season before his hip injury at Wimbledon sent him off course, De Minaur ran the legs out of the big man.
The world No.10 reduced the 22-year-old Briton to smashing his racquet in frustration after breaking Draper’s serve at the start of the decider, and he went on to chalk up his 47th win of 2024, equalling his best ever season.
De Minaur will hope to add more points to his ‘Race to Turin’ tally by beating 2022 Paris Masters champion Holger Rune in the quarters.