Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur races into the third round of a Roland Garros men’s singles draw for the first time.
Paris, France, 31 May 2024 | Leigh Rogers
Alex de Minaur has notched another impressive first in his career-best season.
The 25-year-old Australian is enjoying his deepest run at Roland Garros, securing his spot in the third round of the men’s singles competition with a 7-5 6-1 6-4 victory in Paris today against Spaniard Jaume Munar.
This marks the first time that world No.11 De Minaur has progressed beyond the second round in eight main-draw appearances at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament.
It was a clean performance from De Minaur, finishing the match with more winners and less unforced errors than world No.64 Munar. He also navigated multiple rain delays before closing out victory in two hours and 11 minutes.
“It feels great,” De Minaur said.
“I thought there’s no reason why I can’t do it, so it’s just good to finally be able to be in the third round.”
With this effort, De Minaur becomes just the fifth Australian man to advance to the third round at Roland Garros in the past 15 years.
| Roland Garros men’s singles Australians to reach third round in past 15 years |
|
| Player | Years |
| Lleyton Hewitt | 2009, 2010 |
| Thanasi Kokkinakis | 2015, 2023 |
| Nick Kyrgios | 2015, 2016 |
| Jordan Thompson | 2019 |
| Alex de Minaur | 2024 |
This is the 13th time in total that De Minaur has reached the third round at a major tournament – but only the second time he has managed to do so without conceding a set, matching his swift progression at Australian Open 2021.
De Minaur’s next opponent is German Jan-Lennard Struff, who knocked out world No.17 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the second round.
The top-ranked Australian leads their head-to-head record with three wins from five matches, which includes a straight-sets victory at Miami earlier this season.
World No.41 Struff did, however, win their only previous meeting on clay, which was at Monte Carlo last season.
De Minaur has vowed he is ready to “keep on going”.
“Ultimately my goal is not to make the third round, it’s to go for bigger and better things,” he said.
Aussies in action – Roland Garros
RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
[11] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Jaume Munar (ESP) 7-5 6-1 6-4
COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v [Q] Giulio Zeppieri (ITA)
Men’s singles, third round
[11] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v…
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