ROLAND GARROS

June 3, 2024

Alex De Minaur

Press Conference

A. de MINAUR/D. Medvedev

4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Congrats, Alex. First time quarterfinalist here in Paris beating Daniil. How happy are you with this victory?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I'm pretty happy, not gonna lie. It was a great match today. Fought till the end. Managed to beat a quality opponent in a Grand Slam fourth round, which is kind of the goals that I had been setting for myself to go deeper at these events.

Yeah, I'm very proud of myself.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You played Daniil in New York and had that really grinding affair and then Andrey in Australia where you went in the fifth set it was such a... How did you rebound from that? Do you think those experiences helped you today when you dropped that first set?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, 100%. I think so much in my opinion of Grand Slam tennis is just experience, because ultimately you can put in all the work in the world, and I believe I'm one to do so, but how you conserve energy, how you use your energy in these long, grueling five-set matches, there's a lot to learn from.

As you play more, the body gets used to it more, and it's not just the fact that you play a grueling match and, you know, you can be there for however long it takes. It's about how you bounce back for the next round. That's probably what my body has now started to get used to.

So mentally I was very calm. I knew that there was a good chance that we could even go into a fifth set, so, you know, I was ready for anything today.

Q. What was that last game like? You're normally a pretty calm individual. You don't show much. But internally, what were you going through? Is your stomach churning and heart thumping, and especially when he served the first fault and then eventually the double fault?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I mean, look, doesn't matter what match, what round, what stage you are, what court you're on, if you've got a chance to break, you definitely do your best to try and break, because it kind of gives you that chance to, hey, you don't have to serve it out, right?

But again, I was in the mindset where I knew I was a break up, right, and say he held at 5-3, and say, serving for it I got broken, you know, we're still on equal terms, right? No harm, no foul.

So it's kind of that sort of mindset that I just was in a very calm state of mind throughout the whole match. I knew, again, I was two sets to one up, right? Two sets to one up, a break, I'm still in front. You know, no need to stress out. Of course, it felt great that I didn't have to serve it out.

Q. Considering it's the surface and that it's your first win over a top-5 player at a Grand Slam, is this the biggest win do you think you've had?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it's pretty extraordinary, if you ask me. You know, I always thought that to me to play well on the clay I needed hot, lively conditions. But, you know, this whole tournament has proven otherwise, right? It's been a complete shock to the system, to everything I ever believed in.

Now the toughest thing is dealing with my team, because obviously they've got bragging rights and they give me a lot of slack for me complaining all these years of my level on the clay (smiling).

But now it looks like it's one of my best slam results. Looks like I've converted myself into a clay specialist (smiling).

Q. The previous Australian to the quarterfinals was 20 years ago with Lleyton Hewitt. Did you watch any of Roland Garros in 2004? You'd have been five. Were you watching tennis? Do you have any recollection...

ALEX de MINAUR: Probably not that year. I do have more recollection of the years after that. I remember a brutal match that he had against Gilles Simon here.

But, yeah, it's great. It's amazing. It's a great position to be in. Again, I think it's not just myself. I think it's just the whole country is showing what we can do and the strength of the nation is extremely exciting I think for even everyone back at home just to see all the numbers we got in the top 100, and we keep on pushing out there.

I mean, just to show what the Australian chemistry is, I've got Thanasi Kokkinakis watching me today, supporting me. It's great to see, honestly. Unbelievable feeling to just know that you've got the support of your teammates and ultimately your mates on tour. It feels great.

Q. Talking of support, you had the little boy back from the previous round, you obviously made sure that was happening. How did you do that and will you be doing it again for the next one?

ALEX de MINAUR: Oh, 100%. He's managed a miracle (smiling). He's with me for... Yeah, might have to get him on tour week in, week out (smiling).

No, we found him obviously through the beautiful world of social media, we ended up finding him. We got him to the match. He came with his whole crew, with his mates and his coach.

Yeah, it was great to see him out there. Again, even on that big court, I could hear him after every single point. It's a distinctive voice, so it's great to see. He'll be around. I think he'll be, you know, chilling with me tomorrow in my practice day, and of course he'll be there for the very next match.

Q. When you won, you turned to your box and screamed, but then you screamed some words, it looked like. I was curious what you were saying and why you were saying that.

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, I screamed "I love the clay. I love it here. I can't get enough."

That's what I screamed (smiling).

Q. (Off microphone.)

ALEX de MINAUR: Exactly, because I'm a clay specialist now. (Laughter.)

Q. You did a pretty great interview in French afterwards. Where did you learn French? Do you like to speak French?

ALEX de MINAUR: I learnt French at school a very long time ago. So probably from when I was, I don't know, maybe 8 till 12 I learnt, yeah, I learnt French at school. I've got it in the back of my bag. I can use it. I need to use it a little bit more now.

But it is a lot easier to just have a normal conversation instead of trying to explain tennis. I found it very difficult, especially when I got asked to explain the match tactically. Yeah, I don't have that sort of vocabulary in my disposal.

Yeah, it was good to, you know, show that I do have a bit of French in me and I hope they appreciated it.