Australian tennis star Alex de Minaur has savored his best victory on the clay of Roland Garros before rushing to his girlfriend Katie Boulter’s evening match to cheer her on.
The Australian No. 1 and his young standout American opponent Alex Michelsen had to hang around for a while, including a false start when they arrived at the Simmone Mathieu Court and were dragged away again before even having a chance to warm up.
But when they finally got started on Tuesday, with De Minaur wearing a thermal shirt to ward off the cold on a humid and miserable day, he still lit up the most beautiful “garden” court at Roland Garros with his 6-1, 6-0, 6. – 2 demolition work to the 19-year-old who had bombed him on a hard court in Los Cabos in April.
‘El Demonio’ was seen shortly after at his girlfriend Katie Boulter’s night match on Court 9, where she was facing Paula Badosa.
A photo of him pumping his fist appeared on social media, and the post also noted that Badosa’s boyfriend, Stefanos Tsitsipas, was not present.
Alex de Minaur claimed victory against rising American star Alex Michelsen in straight sets
De Minaur’s match had its own controversial moments, with his teenage opponent throwing a tantrum over a referee’s decision that drew whistles from the crowd.
Michelsen reacted to a line call by yelling at the referee: ‘Oh my God! Oh Lord! Oh Lord! That’s the least funny thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life!’ with the outburst criticized by tennis fans.
And although he’s too nice a guy to revel in it, De Minaur couldn’t hide his satisfaction that revenge was a dish best served cold and wet.
“It wasn’t easy to be there today. Obviously a long day, stop, start. More than anything mentally, having to deal with the cold and the rain on your face. I just had to make sure I had a good mindset today. That’s probably the most important thing.
‘I feel like every time I come here to Paris, it’s raining. I remember very few occasions where I felt like I had played on a hot day here and unfortunately I remember a lot of these types of games.
But I knew what to expect. She was ready. I had my undershirt on with thermal layers. Yes, I was ready for a battle in the cold and rain.
Much more prepared than his young opponent, who seemed completely disenchanted with the clay, the rain, De Minaur’s killer shots and, last but not least, a referee whom he savagely berated for a bad decision as if it were a Supermac de nos jours. .
When asked about his loss to Michelsen in Mexico, De Minaur chose his words carefully.
“I had flown that match from Rotterdam basically the night before from an indoor event to an outdoor event in Mexico. It was a pretty quick change. So he probably wasn’t ready to play, but he definitely was today.”
After finishing his match, the Australian was seen cheering on his girlfriend Katie Boulter.
Alex Michelsen was encouraged during the match with De Minaur
Michelsen threw a tantrum over a referee’s decision he didn’t agree with
His performance was peppered with some virtuoso shots and Minaur, who will next face tough Spanish clay court player Jaume Munar, was very pleased with the way he overcame the difficult conditions, looking on the bright side of life.
“The most important thing was to have a positive mindset throughout the day because it’s very easy to start complaining about the weather, the conditions, everything, but if you start going down that rabbit hole, you can probably guarantee that you’re not going to play a good level match.
—So you have to take it lightly. You have to see the good side of this. Although it’s a bit fake until you make it, right?
“I was saying to myself going into the game, ‘I love these kinds of conditions, you know I wish every day was like this.’
After the way he played, maybe he really wants that now.
