'I'm sorry': Worrying Alex de Minaur image concerns Aussie fans at French Open
Toiling away in the back courts, de Minaur relished the tough battle to start the tournament having rallied in the third set to win in straight sets. His victory also meant he extended his incredible record against unseeded players at grand slams.
De Minaur now has 19 straight wins against unseeded opponents at grand slams. Only Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic currently have an longer streak than the Aussie. De Minaur's record extends back to the 2023 US Open.
After recording his 27th win of the 2025 season, the 25-year-old admitted he was thrilled to have continued his form on clay. The win over Djere marked his most successful clay court campaign to date after recording his 10th win on the surface of the season. Although there was one worrying moment for de Minaur as he called for a medical time out at the end of the second set.
De Minaur removed his shoes and socks to reveal bandages wrapped around his toes. Unfortunately, the Aussie was dealing with a pretty serious blister issue and one of the bandages was rubbing against the shoe.
The images did not look pretty and could be a concern the deeper he journeys into the tournament with players using the soft clay to slide around the court. De Minaur's best weapon against his opponents is his movement and speed and anything hampering these assets would be seen as a major blow to the Aussie.
De Minaur's level did drop in the third set after seeing a trainer, but he managed to hold on in the tiebreak to get an early rest and set-up a clash with Alexander Bublik in the second round. And speaking after the match, de Minaur moved to quell the drama around his toes and even apologised for the scenes.
"Oh, jeez. I'm sorry for everyone that who had to see that. That's not a pretty sight," de Minaur said to his fans. "Actually, it was nothing major. I often get my toes taped up before matches. One that wasn't taped up was rubbing against the tape." De Minaur would be thrilled that his fiancee Katie Boulter also managed to record her first ever win at Roland Garros and will compete in the second round for the first time.
Thats it for alex in the later stages
— Ugyshherppapapapa (@ugyensherpa99) May 27, 2025
Medical Time Out for Alex De Minaur.Just blisters on his right foot.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/E2DAYR9h7E
— MTO Mafia (@MTOMafia) May 27, 2025
Earlier on Tuesday, 🇦🇺 Alex de Minaur recorded his 19th straight win over unseeded opponents at majors.Only Novak Djokovic (75) and Jannik Sinner (24) have longer active streaks on the men's side.#TheFirstServe pic.twitter.com/PGBttw8Ufj
— The First Serve (@TheFirstServeAU) May 27, 2025
De Minaur in 3 and his biggest fan Paul was obviously here to cheer on 😊#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/cd5Fk253Zy
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 27, 2025
De Minaur was thrilled to get his victory in front of a packed court 14. And the Aussie noticed a fimiliar face in the crowd. Young Paul has been a fervent supporter of de Minaur from the start of his career. De Minaur and Paul have met a number of times and the Aussie said he could hear his No.1 supporter in the crowd.
"Yeah, Paul's here. He made it. He's got a very distinctive way of supporting me, which even though I wasn't sure exactly where he was sitting, I could definitely hear him," de Minaur said. "It's great to have him around again. Hopefully we can have a blast again this year."
Unfortunately for de Minaur, James Duckworth wasn't able to defeat Kazahstan Kazakhstan's live-wire Bublik in their clash and there will not be an all-Australian round two meet Paris. But in better news, Adam Walton made sure there would be three Aussies in the second round, joining Alexei Popyrin and de Minaur, having defeated German Max Marterer.
Walton overcame the German in five-sets and admitted he was worried he would go down in another epic when it went to the fifth. "That definitely was on my mind," admitted Walton.
"I felt physically, I was battling a little bit. But I went to the toilet at the end of the set, and came out with a bit more energy. I told myself, 'you gotta go for it again. Just one more set, that's all you gotta play'. And luckily, I got off to a good start."
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