Hopes of local glory at the Australian Open have been blown away on a windy evening in Melbourne after a late barrage from the No 5 seed, Andrey Rublev, jettisoned Alex de Minaur in the last 16.
De Minaur was in the box seat after taking sets two and three and looked the fresher of the players into the fourth, but the Russian found another level to take an epic contest on Sunday night 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0 in 4hr 14min.
The result means De Minaur has exited the tournament in the fourth round for the third year in a row, and extends the 48-year drought for Australian men at their home grand slam tournament.
There was not much De Minaur could do after one of world tennis’ biggest hitters adopted an even more aggressive style in the fourth and fifth sets, producing a spectacular display of power that silenced 14,000-odd fans in Rod Laver Arena.
“He just let go, he started swinging and the balls went in. It’s not a match I lost physically, it’s just that the racquet was taken out of my hand,” De Minaur said. “He was just standing and hitting from every single part of the court at mach 10.”
Rublev said the onset of fatigue forced him to change his approach. “I started to tell to myself, no, you’re going to die today, but you will do everything. And then somehow I started to play better and better, and I found more energy and I was able to win.“
The Russian smashed nine winners in the final set, and had just four unforced errors, breaking the Australian’s serve three times, and the hearts of many watching. And he did it despite admitting afterwards he had been in pain.
“I was just trying not to think about it, I was just trying to push myself,” he said. “Don’t cry, don’t start to feel sorry to yourself.”
Few would have predicted the one-sided nature of the conclusion given the previous record between the players.
The Australian had won three of the pair’s five previous matches, though the preceding meeting went the way of the Russian, in three sets at last year’s Masters 1000 event in Paris.
That match was indoors, but the Rod Laver Arena roof was cleaved open before this match after a shower earlier on Sunday. After blowing the rain away, the wind hung around on this chilly evening, fluttering Rublev’s mop of hair, and causing havoc with his ball toss.
The Russian served a double fault twice in the first game. It prompted furious gesticulations from the colourful Rublev, who tossed racquets, shouted frustrations and shook his head as he battled demons outside and in.
“Better not to be inside my head at this time,” he said. “It’s like a scary movie.”
He steadied to hold, and his pedigree on the baseline was obvious as he broke in the fourth game. Although the Australian levelled soon after, Rublev’s arsenal was the match’s driving force.
Rublev established himself in the top 10 in 2020, and has been one of the tour’s top performers since then. His potent forehand heaped pressure on the Australian, whose serve landed just 53% of the time over the contest. Rod Laver Arena was filled with gasps when a double fault on set point handed the initiative to the visitor.
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However, De Minaur’s three victories against top-10 players in the past month showed a player in form, and his steady resolve was an obvious contrast to the flamboyant Russian.
His effort – together with some spectacular shot making – took him to the second set, a marathon at 73 minutes. The highlight was an ankle-high stretch around the net post, after a Rublev forehand veered towards the umpire’s chair.
It was perhaps the shot of the tournament so far. And on the Australian rolled, winning a second tiebreak to take a two sets to one lead as the Russian’s exclamations became more regular.
But then the twist. Although his movement appeared limited as the fourth set wore on, Rublev became more aggressive and the Australian was left largely as a bystander.
“I thought, you know, we’re going to go into the fifth set and I was going to be able to expose him physically but I played a couple average points in the first game and he played two really good points,” De Minaur said.
“All of sudden I’m behind the eight ball and I was playing catch up and yeah, he just let loose.”
Rublev has never gone past the quarter-finals of a grand slam – despite reaching that stage nine previous times – and he admitted last year the mental part of the game is an ongoing challenge.
He now meets the No 4 seed, Jannik Sinner, the only player yet to drop a set. The Russian has won just twice in six matches between them. “He beat me last time, so I don’t know what to say,” he said. “Looks like I’m in trouble.”