Alex de Minaur showcased an indomitable spirit to come from behind to beat Felix Auger Aliassime yesterday, but that is becoming commonplace nowadays.
The Australian is affable off the court and relentless on it, chasing after every ball and always forcing his opponent to make one more shot.
His 23-year-old counterpart could not cope with him on the day, and he has reached the Rome Open Round of 16 with relative ease despite his somewhat chequered history on a clay court.
However, he is seemingly feeling better than ever on this surface, and has even sought to predict how this might translate that form into Roland Garros.
Alex de Minaur makes bold Roland Garros prediction
Speaking after his win over the Canadian, De Minaur was rather coy about his chances in the coming weeks.
After all, once we are done in Rome, attention then turns to the second Grand Slam of the year: the French Open.
The 25-year-old has never surpassed the second round at this competition, thus making it his most awkward major by some distance.
However, he still remains confident in his ability, and offered the following prediction ahead of another trip to Roland Garros.
He told Tennis Channel: ‘I probably don’t want to get too ahead of myself, especially on this surface which in the past hasn’t been too nice to me, so I’m still finding my footing and I’m trying to gain a lot of confidence.
‘I’m doing my best to put myself in a good position. In the past, Roland Garros, Paris hasn’t been too nice to me. I haven’t played my best tennis. There’s no way I can possibly have that high expectations going into Paris.
‘But, saying that, I feel like my clay court tennis is in the best form it’s been in my career so why not go out there and play some good tennis, and you never know. Could go on a good run.’
Alex de Minaur is growing as a player every day
Although the manner in which Auger Aliassime reached the Madrid Open final was questionable, he was still present at that stage of a clay-court Masters 1000 event. That cannot be discredited.
So, to see him dispatched in such a gruelling clash by De Minaur marked a shock result, and one which only emphasises the growth of the Australian with each new match played.
His clash with clay-court specialist Stefanos Tsitsipas later today will mark a true test of that progress, but regardless he still has picked up enough wins in recent weeks to suggest he could threaten most at Roland Garros.
Not to mention his win over Rafael Nadal on clay, a feat never to be ignored regardless of the Spaniard’s fitness levels.
And to claim he is enjoying the form of his life on this surface only reinforces the confidence that he must be feeling, regardless if he prefers playing elsewhere.
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