Alex De Minaur of Sydney, Australia delivered one of the biggest wins of his tennis career on Wednesday. In the second round of the 2022 Paris Masters, De Minaur defeated world number three and 2021 United States Open champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.
After the match, Medvedev was extremely upset with the loss. He smashed his racquet after his defeat. According to Jovica Ilic of Tennis World, Medvedev will now be ranked outside the top four for the first time in two years. This is the case despite the fact no points were awarded at Wimbledon this year because the ATP Tour disagreed with the British government ruling that Russians and Belarusians were not allowed to participate at the third major of the calendar year due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
From a statistical perspective, the fact that De Minaur came through was a little surprising. That is because Medvedev had 10 aces, while De Minaur only had one.
This was a career statement win for De Minaur. It is the first time he has ever beaten a player ranked in the top six in the world. However it is his third win over a top-10 player this year. De Minaur previously beat 2021 Wimbledon finalist and world number seven Matteo Berrettini of Italy 6-3, 7-6 in the round robin portion of the 2022 ATP Cup in Sydney, and then 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist and worked number 10 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Barcelona Open.
Next up in round three for De Minaur in Paris is American Frances Tiafoe, the 16th seed. De Minaur has beaten Tiafoe twice. The first time in the second round of the 2018 US Open, 6-4, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2. The second time in the semifinals of the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals in Italy, 4-2, 4-1, 0-4, 4-2.
