Alex De Minaur is into the quarter-finals of the French Open.
The 25-year-old defeated fifth seed Daniil Medvedev in four sets after dropping the first - 4-6 / 6-2 / 6-1 / 6-3.
De Minaur becomes the first Australian male in two decades to reach this stage of the tournament.
He joins only Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter as Aussie men to reach the final eight at Roland Garros in the last four decades.
That pair both won Grand Slams and became No.1 in the world, which is a good omen for De Minaur.
SEN tennis expert and The First Serve’s Brett Phillips spoke glowingly of De Minaur after he progressed at the expense of the star Russian.
“Alex De Minaur is doing us proud over at Roland Garros,” Phillips said on SEN Breakfast.
“If you think in the last 42 years only Lleyton Hewitt twice and the great Pat Rafter once have progressed this far at Roland Garros. Both of course going on to be Grand Slam champions, and world No.1s. That is a good omen for Alex De Minaur.
“He sits live at eighth in the world in the rankings. He’s always had the heart as big as Phar Lap, and we know in sport that speed kills. He’s fast, he was inventive and creative last night, he took the game on.
“He got off to a little bit of a nervy start, but once he settled against Medvedev he just started to rattle the cage and Medvedev became a little flustered. It was his power through the court hitting those flat ground strokes particularly through the forehand.
“It was a brilliant display. There were no excuses from Medvedev, he was simply outplayed.
“What a great moment for Alex De Minaur.”
De Minaur held a 25-31 win-loss record on clay entering the clash with Medvedev, but has improved his game on this particular surface.
“It hasn’t been his best-performed surface,” Phillips added.
“This is a big breakthrough. The good players adapt to all surfaces. For a clay courter, he doesn’t play the traditional way, he hits very flat through the court, so you don’t get as much bang for your buck.
“He’s got every shot in the book covered. He’s a beauty, we should be proud of him and who knows how far he might be able to go this week.”
De Minaur meets the winner of the Alexander Zverev v Holger Rune clash in the final eight of the French Open.