For a man who moves so swiftly around a tennis court, the key to Alex de Minaur’s opening success at Roland Garros on Monday over Belarusian Ilya Ivashka was stillness.
There was a moment midway through the match where, as had happened in previous failed campaigns in Paris, the Australian might have lost the battle with his mind and the match.
The 18th seed dominated the first set. He was well in control of the second set as well, only to lose concentration for a few minutes, enough to find the battle back on level pegging.
But after years of turmoil on clay, De Minaur believes he has found an inner-calm on the dirt. He stilled his mind and steeled himself.
De Minaur is no longer rebelling against the shifting surface and thinking he is incapable of mastering it, saying he has learned to embrace the challenges and roll with the punches.
The 24-year-old, who had won only two matches in six previous visits to Roland Garros, spoke prior to the major about his improved mindset and subsequently delivered proof of it against Ivashka when seizing the initiative to win 6-1 5-7 6-1 6-3.
“(When) you’re in those positions, even though everything looks very calm and easy, it never is, especially on clay,” De Minaur said.
“In a split instance, everything can change. It can get frustrating at times. It’s important to be as chilled out as you can and kind of move on.
“That’s what I think I did. I was a little bit vocal in the second set, at the end of the second set. Part of what … changed the whole match was just me being a little bit more quiet and just focused and going about my own business. And it worked out.”
After a bright opening day in Paris, de Minaur was the only one of the three Australians in action to progress to the second round, with Alexei Popyrin and Chris O’Connell well beaten.
Popyrin snared a set against Aslan Karatsev, a qualifier here but a semi-finalist at Masters level in Madrid earlier in May, when beaten 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-1 6-2 in just shy of three hours.
O’Connell has enjoyed a prosperous clay court season, but it was clear early in his match against Taro Daniel that something was amiss in his 6-0 6-2 6-4 loss.
Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell will face each other in an Australian derby on Tuesday, with the victor joining De Minaur, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jason Kubler in the second round.
While Nick Kyrgios sparks a frenzy when fit enough to take to the court, De Minaur has largely been the standard bearer in Australian tennis on the men’s side in recent years.
A run to the quarterfinals at the US Open in 2020 is his best in a major to date.
At the Australian Open in January, he looked to be coming of age, only to run into Novak Djokovic in his kingdom of Melbourne Park at his most imperious in January. The 10-time champion delivered a drubbing.
De Minaur licked his wounds. He might have felt humiliated. But the Sydneysider is resilient and irrepressible in his determination to get everything out of himself.
In Mexico in February, he claimed his seventh ATP Tour title when beating Australian Open semi finalist Tommy Paul in the decider. It renewed the belief he has in himself.
“It showed me that I can do well in the bigger tournaments (and) gave me a lot of confidence that if I have my week … I can go all the way,” he said.
“That was something that, probably, where I didn’t fully trust myself. Now I do.
“I 100 percent believe that no matter the week, I can go out and have a run and … back myself that if I’m playing well, that I can beat anyone.”
De Minaur will face Tomas Martin Etcheverry, an Argentinian who broke into the top 100 last year and won his maiden match at a major in Melbourne in January.
The pair played each other half a lifetime ago as kids in the Orange Bowl in Florida and the Australian is not surprised to see his junior foe has progressed to the top tier of tennis.
The world No 19 is certain the 23-year-old has the strength to test the Zen the Australian has found on clay as he seeks to progress to the third round in Paris for the first time.
“He’s the definition of a very, very good clay-courter,” de Minaur said.
“He’s a very strong guy, a tall guy (and he has) got a big serve, big forehand. It’s going to be a great test for me.
“But these are the types of matches I want to be playing and I’m looking forward to it. He’s one of those unseeded dark horses, so I’ll be ready for a battle, that’s for sure.”
