Alex de Minaur declared he was in the strongest clay court form of his life leading into the French Open and has made good on that vow by producing a career-best run at Roland Garros. But it feels like the experience might well leave him with more than a few grey hairs.
The stress does not relate to his performances on the court, with the Australian No.1 yet to drop a set in reaching the third round in Paris for the first time after posting a convincing 7-5 6-1 6-4 victory in 2hr 11min over Jaume Munar on Thursday.
Rather the No.11 seed said that the stress associated with dealing with persistent delays and rain interruptions had added to the difficulty of succeeding on a surface that, while not his preference, has become one he is performing consistently well on.
“I was telling my team that (with) this whole kind of Roland Garros experience, I’m going to age a lot over these two weeks,” he said.
“It is not easy. It’s not ideal. It’s probably one of the worst parts of our sport, but there’s nothing you can do about it, so you might as well crack on.”
Munar was a boyhood rival who had the better of their rivalry for a period when they were teenagers but as de Minaur has matured, he has drawn ahead in the ledger.
After a tight opening set in wintry conditions on Court No.6 at Roland Garros, the Sydneysider was able to dominate a rain-delayed and then storm-interrupted clash.
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The world No.11 clinched the first set of a match that began at 6.30pm on another drizzly day in Paris and had the upper-hand in the second set when a heavy burst of showers hit the tournament site, delaying play for another hour.
Munar returned to the court with his right thigh and knee heavily strap, and also with a chip on his shoulder, but did not have the firepower to trouble the Australian, who rapidly claimed the next four games to take a two-set lead.
In the infancy of the third set, as de Minaur sat patiently on the other side of the court, his Spanish rival called a supervisor to court to express his dissatisfaction over a ruling from umpire Marijana Veljovic.
It did not perturb de Minaur, who whipped a forehand to the feet of his rival to break for a lead 3-2. Munar responded immediately in the following game but when serving to stay in the match, the excellence of de Minaur’s defence and depth of shot proved too much for him.
de Minaur, who defeated the clay court specialist for the first time in five sets in the Next Gen semifinals in 2018 and then followed up with a three set victory over Munar in the Madrid Masters in 2021, endured a frustrating first set in which he was the better player.
He would break his rival’s serve, only to play some scratchy points as he sought to consolidate the advantage. After failing to serve the set out at 5-4, he was in peril again on serve when trying for a second time at 6-5. But then he produced a stanza that broke open the match.
Facing a break point, de Minaur followed a second serve into the net and punched away a tricky backhand volley. He then did the same on the next two points to close out the set, with the deft touch he showed on the final point superb given the difficulty of the volley.
“I think something clicked at the end of that first set (with) how I finally found the way I wanted to play, the way I was going to be able to hurt him out there on the court,” he said.
“That was just by being aggressive and taking it to him. He’s a very good clay courter (who) moves very well (and) extends a lot of rallies. So it was a bit frustrating in the first set, just being up a break a couple times and getting broken back.
“But I’m happy I was able to … snag that first set. I started playing well in the second and (was able to) take home the win.”
The Davis Cup stalwart, who reached the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters in May and then defeated Rafael Nadal in Barcelona before reaching the last 16 of the Italian Open, proceeded to win the first seven points of the second set as well before a storm hit.
The 25-year-old will seek to reach the second week of Roland Garros for the first time on Saturday when he plays the winner of a clash between powerful German veteran Jan-Lennard Struff, who was too good for 19th seed Alexander Bublik.
Having stayed late on Tuesday night to support his partner Katie Boulter in her opening round match against Paula Badosa, the top-ranked English player returned the favour on Thursday and de Minaur has no doubt their relationship is helping their tennis.
“We’re both in the same world. We both understand each other. We both know how it is to deal with days like today,” he said.
“So if anything, it’s just having someone that understands you, supports you and has your back, no matter what. It’s always very great and obviously I really appreciate Katie sticking around all day, watching me and supporting me.”