Thanasi Kokkinakis will be among the many Australians cheering for Alex de Minaur in his fourth-round showdown against world No.5 Daniil Medvedev at Roland Garros 2024.
It is the second match scheduled today at Court Suzanne-Lenglen (with an approximate starting time of 9pm AEST).
“Medvedev’s a great player, so it’s going to be tough,” world No.100 Kokkinakis predicted.
“Probably has four or five sets written on it, but Alex is just as tough, you have to play well to have a chance to beat him. It should be a really interesting match, and hopefully he gets it done.”
The 25-year-old De Minaur is enjoying a career-best run at Roland Garros, where he has become the first Australian man to reach the fourth round in 17 years.
“Alex deserves everything that comes to him,” said Kokkinakis of his compatriot, who he described as a “great guy”.
“(He) always leads leads by example (and) most of the time wins. He just has the best attitude you’ve ever seen from a player and really pushes everyone. He’s an ultimate team-mate and while he’s maybe not the most natural clay courter, when you’re good, you’re good.
“He’s added a bit more firepower to his game, he’s hitting his drop shot a lot better and that’s a recipe for success on clay. So I think he would be using that a bit against Medvedev. Yeah, I think I give him a good shot.”
> READ: De Minaur ready for Medvedev challenge at Roland Garros 2024
Clay is Medvedev’s least favourite surface and he is yet to beat a top-20 opponent at Roland Garros. However, the six-time Grand Slam singles finalist is “looking forward” to playing the in-form Australian.
“I feel like we had a lot of good matches. Some he won, some I won,” Medvedev said ahead of their Roland Garros meeting.
“First time on clay. We practiced a week before Roland Garros in Monte Carlo. I think we can both play well, and it’s going to be interesting.” Alex de Minaur v Daniil Medvedev
Head-to-head record
Result Year Event Round Surface
Medvedev won 1-6 6-4 7-5 2018 Sydney Final Outdoor hard
Medvedev won 6-3 6-3 2018 Winston-Salem 2R Outdoor hard
Medvedev won 5-7 6-2 6-2 2020 Paris Masters 3R Indoor hard
Medvedev won 6-4 6-2 2022 ATP Cup Round-robin Outdoor hard
De Minaur won 6-4 2-6 7-5 2022 Paris Masters 2R Indoor hard
De Minaur won 7-6(7) 7-5 2023 Canadian Masters QF Outdoor hard
Medvedev won 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 2023 US Open 4R Outdoor hard
Medvedev won 7-6(3) 6-3 2023 Beijing 2R Outdoor hard
This is De Minaur’s eighth appearance in the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament and he has now made this stage in four of the past six majors.
He will have at least one passionate supporter courtside for his clash with Medvedev, having successfully tracked down a young fan who inspired him during his third-round victory against Jan-Lennard Struff.
De Minaur took to social media to find the fan, so he could invite him to attend his next match.
