Alexei Popyrin and Alex de Minaur have each claimed fighting three-set wins to advance to the final 16 of the prestigious Monte Carlo Masters.
Monte Carlo, Italy, 9 April 2025 | Ian Chadband, AAP
In the first major European clay-court event of the 2025 season, Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin have each offered glimpses they could enjoy their best seasons yet on the surface as they came from a set down in their matches to book last-16 places.
In the year after De Minaur showed his best clay-court form as a Roland Garros quarterfinalist, Australia’s world No.10 produced an emphatic comeback to subdue Czech Tomas Machac 3-6 6-0 6-3.
Based on his fine returning grinding down the Czech, de Minaur’s win set up the No.8 seed with a round-of-16 date against No.9 Daniil Medvedev, who came through a testing encounter with Frenchman Alexandre Muller 7-6 (6) 5-7 6-2.
It will be ‘Demon’s’ first encounter with Medvedev since the Aussie was beaten in last year’s ATP Finals, but he’ll be keen to repeat his shock victory over the Russian at Roland Garros which earned him his first last-eight berth at the clay-court Slam.
De Minaur had been scheduled to potentially meet Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, but it’s back to the drawing board for the 24-time major champion, who described his performance in a straight-sets loss to Chilean Alejandro Tabilo as “horrible”.
Former Roland Garros boys’ champ Popyrin, meanwhile, showed signs that decent clay-court campaign awaits as he won his second match in two days from a set down, 3-6 6-3 6-3, against American No.14 seed Frances Tiafoe.
It gave the 25-year-old Sydneysider, who blasted 27 winners, a measure of revenge for his defeat by Tiafoe in last year’s US Open.
It’s also the first tournament in 2025 in which Popyrin has won two matches, after entering Monte Carlo with a dismal 2-7 record.
He next faces No.4 seed, two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud, in the last-16 after the Norwegian hammered Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2 6-1.
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