Alex de Minaur launches his eighth main-draw campaign at Roland Garros with a comprehensive victory over big-hitting teen Alex Michelsen.
Paris, France , 29 May 2024 | Vivienne Christie
Alex de Minaur launched his Roland Garros 2024 campaign with a statement win, limiting big-hitting teenager Alex Michelsen to just three games in their first-round encounter.
De Minaur, the tournament’s No.11 men’s seed, completed his 6-1 6-0 6-2 victory after a long wait to take to Simmone-Mathieu Court on a cool and rainy day in Paris.
“(it was) not easy out there today. Obviously a long day, stop-starting,” the Australian commented when asked about the key to his emphatic win.
“More than anything mentally and also dealing with cold and rain in your face. Just had to be solid and, yeah, make sure I had good mentality today. That’s probably the most important thing.”
De Minaur’s composure against Michelsen, a Roland Garros main-draw debutante, was particulary impressive given an upset loss to the 19-year-old at Los Cabos earlier this year.
On that occasion though, said De Minaur, he had made a swift turnaround after reaching the Rotterdam final in his previous event.
“That match I flew from Rotterdam basically the night before from an indoor event to an outdoor event in Mexico,” he explained.
“So I probably wasn’t quite ready to play that match, but I definitely was ready today.”
Places to go and people to see 😮💨@alexdeminaur storms into the second round in just 1 hour and 48 minutes ⚡️#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/P5UtiSxxID
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2024
Indeed, it was an accomplished performance from start to finish for De Minaur, who raced to a 5-0 lead before Michelsen at last registered a game.
Overwhelmed by De Minaur’s trademark speed, the frustrated teenager finally gained an edge of sorts when he broke the Australian to take a 2-0 lead in the final set.
It was a short reprieve, with De Minaur quickly recovering by winning six straight games and soon securing the match.
As he prepares to face world No.64 Spaniard Jaume Munar in the second round, De Minaur will take confidence from his 28 winners against Michelsen – including the deft backhand that secured his progress after one hour and 48 minutes on court.
It provides hope that after failing to progress beyond the second round in seven previous campaigns in Paris, the top-ranked Australian is at last poised for a…
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