Alex de Minaur is a demon Andy Murray cannot shake

The Aussie is now 6-0 against the former No. 1, 4-0 in 2023 and has twice won from match point down this year with Monday's effort at the Rolex Paris Masters.

ByTENNIS.com

Published Oct 30, 2023

MATCH POINT: A. De Minaur def. A. Murray; Paris 1R

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Alex de Minaur defeats Andy Murray on clay.
Alex de Minaur defeats Andy Murray on grass.
Alex de Minaur defeats Andy Murray on outdoor hard.
Alex de Minaur defeats Andy Murray on indoor hard.

It’s an eye-catching quartet of 2023 results the Australian competed on Monday at the Rolex Paris Masters, as he continues to be a demon Murray cannot shake.

De Minaur moved to 6-0 overall in their head-to-head series, but not before saving a match point to prevail, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5, as the contest crossed the three-hour mark.

“The less you think, the better,” Alex de Minaur told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj about his ability to stay present this late in the season. “If you can have a blank mind, then you’ve got a better chance of being in the zone and not letting too many things affect you.”

De Minaur notched his 43rd win of the season.

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A month earlier, De Minaur had staved off three match points to deny the former world No. 1 in Beijing. The No. 13 seed once again brilliantly battled back from the brink of defeat, leaving Murray to process another brutal blow.

There were key missed chances for Murray long before his third-set demise—with De Minaur saving three set points when he served at 4-5 in the opening set. Murray appeared to seize control by bringing more aggression to the table. A four-game run saw him level and move ahead 2-0 in the decider, but he couldn’t put the 24-year-old away.

In a case of China Open déjà vu, Murray once again led 5-2 only to see it all fall apart. And in this instance, today's collapse involved failing to serve it out in spite of a double break advantage.

His match point came at 5-4, 40-30. De Minaur neutralized a first serve to get himself in a baseline exchange, eventually resulting in Murray framing a forehand. Two more unforced errors from the Brit’s racquet followed to see the lead completely erased.

Murray dropped to 16-17 in tour-level matches this season.

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De Minaur survived a tense deuce game to hold, then won five successive points when Murray served at 40-15 to complete the comeback. Murray smashed his racquet before walking to the net to shake hands, then gave it another couple of whacks to the displeasure of booing fans.

The effort keeps the Sydney native’s slim hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals alive. De Minaur is No. 13 in the race to Turin and trailed current No. 8 Holger Rune by 720 points coming into this tournament.

Prior to Beijing, De Minaur also dispatched Murray in Monte Carlo and London Queen’s this year.

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