Alex de Minaur became the first Aussie man to reach the quarter-finals in Paris in 20 years with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Daniil Medvedev.
But he certainly didn’t have it all his own way at Roland-Garros on Monday night.
The Australian rallied to win in four sets after losing the first 4-6 to the Russian.
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De Minaur found himself on the back foot when Medvedev paused in the middle of a point the Aussie had won, to claim the previous shot was out.
The umpire left her chair to check the mark on the clay, and agreed with Medvedev that de Minaur’s previous shot had gone long.
Alex de Minaur was perplexed by the out call. Nine
But the Aussie protested given he had played his winning shot before Medvedev signalled the out ball.
Australian tennis great Todd Woodbridge agreed the umpire got it wrong.
“Alex had already hit the shot, he played the next ball,” Woodbridge said on Nine’s broadcast.
“You do see Medvedev look down and try and see the mark, and whether to stop or not.
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“It’s a tough one on the umpire she’s looking both ways also.
“But that’s not right (from Medvedev). You can’t do that.”
Despite the odds weighed against him after losing the first set, the Aussie did not let that sway his mental focus like he may have done in the past.
In the end the terrible weather at Roland-Garros produced a surprisingly positive outcome for de Minaur.
It turned him into a clay court believer.
“Looks like I’ve converted myself into a clay specialist,” De Minaur said, laughing.
He reached the last eight against his own expectations, during a tournament hit by five consecutive days of rain delays and scheduling chaos at Roland-Garros.
Standing in his path to a first major semi-final is world No.4 Alexander Zverev.