Wearing a layer of thermals after a lengthy delay at the French Open on Tuesday, Alex de Minaur strode onto arguably the world’s most beautiful grand slam court determined to make a couple of points in Paris.
The Australian was pitted against American Alex Michelsen, a powerfully-built emerging talent who had dominated him when they clashed in Mexico earlier this year.
There was a caveat associated with that result, though, for the world No.11 had flown directly from an indoor event in Rotterdam and took to the court with his body clock still set for Europe.
This was an opportunity to set the record straight and de Minaur did so ruthlessly when routing the 19-year-old, whose temper frayed badly late in the match, 6-1 6-0 6-2.
“That match I flew from Rotterdam basically the night before from an indoor event to an outdoor event in Mexico,” de Minaur said.
“It was quite a quick turnaround, so I probably wasn’t quite ready to play that match, but I definitely was ready today.”
It was a point delivered with an exclamation mark as de Minaur pulled his more powerful rival all around Simone Mathieu Court, which is set in a glasshouse inside a lovely garden.
But first he had to wait. And wait. And wait. Drizzly rain meant that a match scheduled for 11am did not begin until after 4pm, but de Minaur had the experience to cope with the delay.
“I knew what to expect. I was ready. I had my undershirt thermal layering on. I was ready for a battle in the cold and rain,” he said.
“Probably the most important thing is to have a positive mindset throughout the whole day because it’s very easy to start complaining about the weather, the conditions, everything.
“But if you start down that rabbit hole, then you can probably guarantee that you’re not going to play a good level match. So you’ve got to take it lightly. You’ve got to see the bright side of it.
“It’s a little bit of fake it until you make it, right? I was telling myself walking into the match that I love these types of conditions, you know, that I wish every day was like this.”
The bitterly cold weather meant that the No.11 seed was never going to be able to outhit Michelsen, which meant that he had to think “outside the box” in order to win points.
The last game of the match, which followed a childish outburst from Michelsen towards umpire Louis Boucharinc after a close line ball, illustrated de Minaur’s plan perfectly.
The 25-year-old used drop shots to drag his rival forward, then whipped the ball back over his head as quick as flash like a puppet master, each tug of the strings driving the kid from California a point closer to losing his mind. It was a masterclass in clay court craft.
“(The conditions) completely alters (the) tactics big-time,” he said.
Ultimately, the conditions are way slower, so maybe someone who is a little bit bigger and stronger can still hit through these conditions and even maybe have a little bit more control.
“But for someone that maybe doesn’t have as much firepower, it creates a different style of tennis. You have to be more patient. You have to think outside the box.
“The whole game plan was to try and get him moving. It wasn’t super easy out there, because the conditions didn’t allow that, but obviously the droppy (drop shot) is in play, (so to) trying to get angles, the slice, try to change paces.”
That description, and the assessment of his performance, illustrates the other point de Minaur was determined to make.
Namely, his confidence on clay is improving as he seeks another career first in Paris.
In seven previous Roland Garros appearances, the Australian star has failed to reach the third round. But the Sydneysider is adamant he is now a more complete player on clay.
His results to date in 2024 demonstrate this, with de Minaur notching a win over Rafael Nadal in Barcelona while reaching the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo and last 16 in Rome.
“I’m a completely different player than previous years on the surface,” he said.
“I feel comfortable. I feel capable. I’m going to do my very best because ultimately my goals are … to go deep at the slams. So I’m going to do my very best (to do) that.
“(In) saying that, I am quite conscious that I’m yet to pass the second round here, so we’ll start with that one first. Then we can move forward.”
A golden opportunity presents. de Minaur will play Spaniard Jaume Munar on his preferred surface on Thursday.
But he has won his two meetings against Munar, the first in the Next Gen Championships in 2018 and the second on clay in Madrid in 2021.