Alex de Minaur stuns tennis world in shock scenes at Paris Masters

Alex de Minaur has broken through for one of the biggest wins of his career, shocking Daniil Medvedev at the Paris Masters to earn his first-ever victory over a top-five player.

The Aussie star earned a thrilling 6-4 2-6 7-5 victory over the former World No.1 on Wednesday, securing his first win over a top-five opponent in 19 attempts.

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De Minaur had lost all his previous four encounters with the World No.3, including two matches in which he'd won the first set - and it looked as if history would repeat itself on Wednesday on the Bercy hard courts as Medvedev fought back to take a 2-0 lead in the decider.

But de Minaur regrouped, went on the offensive and eventually looked, mentally and physically, stronger than his Russian opponent.

Medvedev had a running battle with their chair umpire throughout the match and eventually cracked after serving a double fault to hand de Minaur the win.

He served two double faults in the final game, the second of which gifted the 23-year-old Australian victory after a draining but wholly absorbing two hours and 46 minutes.

The Russian erupted with anger, smashing his racquet into the court amid a chorus of jeers from the Parisian crowd, who'd already enjoyed baiting him during the contest. Medvedev then had some choice words for the chair umpire, but he was quick to congratulate de Minaur at the net.

“I was not at all talking to the umpire about the crowd. In my opinion, the crowd was nice, supporting both players, 50/50, always nice. In my opinion, the umpire didn’t do a good match, but I’m not criticising," the Russian said afterwards.

“It’s like, he did a bad match like I can do a bad match, for example. At the end my attitude was not good enough. I can admit it. But in my opinion, he didn’t make a good match. I like [chair umpire] Nacho [Forcadell], and I like him as an umpire. I’m talking only about today.”

Fans on social media were highly critical of Medvedev's behaviour while praising de Minaur on the stunning victory.

Alex de Minaur savours biggest win of career

The World No.25 de Minaur will take back his Australia No.1 spot from Nick Kyrgios if he wins his next match - a last-16 contest on Thursday against American Frances Tiafoe, the World No.21 who defeated rising Briton Jack Draper 6-3 7-5.

"I just wanted to wait for the 19th game - why do it in the first 18, eh?" de Minaur smiled in a post-match interview with Tennis Channel as he pondered his long quest to beat a top-five player.

"I knew it was going to be a tough battle. He's an incredibly tough opponent. I knew what to expect and I'm glad I played a very tactical match out there."

Indeed, de Minaur was the more willing to change his game when he needed, and his last-set aggression quite unfazed Medvedev after some earlier chess-like exchanges which ended on several occasions to 30-plus stroke rallies, and, on one occasion, to 43.

But in a battle of two natural counter-punchers, it was de Minaur who dared venture more often out of his comfort zone, winning 25 points at the net.

"When you're playing Daniil you've got to find a very fine balance between being solid and being aggressive," de Minaur said.

"Obviously, we all know what he can do with his passing shots and with his movement around the court. I just tried to wait for the right ball and just back myself and back my volleys."

World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz also sailed into the third round with a 6-4 6-4 win over Yoshihito Nishioka, blasting 30 winners, while Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime was a 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-6 (8-6) winner over Swede Mikael Ymer, and Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Dan Evans 6-3 6-4.

with AAP

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