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 first 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 quarter-finals, it also took him, provisionally, into the eighth and final spot in the race to make the end-of-season championship in Turin.
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 on pole to be the first Aussie since his Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt in 2004 to compete in the ‘fifth slam’.
It ended a stirring day for Australian men’s tennis with 30-year-old Jordan Thompson reaching the last-eight of a Masters 1000 for the first time in his late-blooming career with a 7-5 7-6 (7-5) win over French veteran Adrian Mannarino.
On a day featuring three Aussies in the last-16 at a Masters 1000 for the first time in 24 years, the one disappointment was Alexei Popyrin following his shock win over Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday by succumbing 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to another Russian, in-form Karen Khachanov.
Looking drained and emotional at courtside in Bercy afterwards, contemplating how he’d battled through injury woes to join the top eight, de Minaur 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 rudely 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 Holge Rune, who defeated French riser Arthur Cazaux 3-6 6-3 6-4, in the quarters.
“It’s what we’ve been working towards, these big results at big tournaments,” said Thompson after another breakthrough which will see him play No.13 seed Ugo Humbert, who upset No.2 Carlos Alcaraz 6-1 3-6 7-5, in his maiden quarters.
Also in the last-eight, Alexander Zverev, who beat star home prospect Arthur Fils 6-4 3-6 6-3, will face Greek ace Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is also still in the hunt for a Finals place after beating Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-2.
