Australian Open: De Minaur goes down fighting against Russian Andrey Rublev

The Australian played the shot of the tournament but lost a five-set heartbreaker at the Australian Open to Russian Andrey Rublev.

Alex de Minaur let his volatile opponent off the hook and the Russian reeled off 12 consecutive points. Picture: Getty Images

Alex de Minaur has lost a five-set heartbreaker at the Australian Open despite a miracle, once-every-blue-moon, round-the-net shot that nearly swung a volatile clash with Andrey Rublev his way.

“Shot of the tournament,” said Lleyton Hewitt, but it wasn’t enough for de Minaur to beat the Russian, who prevailed 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-0.

De Minaur trailed by a set and 1-2 in the tiebreaker when Rublev belted a crosscourt forehand. It struck the top of the net and bounced over. De Minaur used his trademark blistering speed to reach the ball in the nick of time. He faced a near-impossible shot, though. The ball had bounced wide towards the umpire chair, outside the singles lines.

At full stretch, de Minaur knocked a forehand around the outside of the net post, threading the needle between the post and the umpire’s chair. The ball only travelled at ankle height because it didn’t have to clear the net. A stunned Rublev missed his next hurried shot and flew into a rage. De Minaur celebrated wildly and the crowd went even wilder. The tone of the match changed right there and then — but not for the duration.

De Minaur won the tiebreaker and then the following set as the Russian descended into self-admonishing tantrum after self-admonishing tantrum. De Minaur was energetic, opportunistic as the patrons inside Rod Laver Arena were on their feet and in full voice when the match was at his mercy.

Alex de Minaur congratulates Andrey Rublev after their fourth round singles match on Rod Laver Arena. Picture: Mark Stewart

Rublev played a powerhouse first set and then motored him in the last two. He’s risen to the World No.5 ranking thanks to a relentless groundstroke game that basically amounts to hitting the ball hard and if that doesn’t work, hit the bloody thing harder. De Minaur’s first sign of shakiness came when he served at 5-3 in the third set. He made a few overly cautious unforced errors and lost the game with another anxious double fault right when Rublev was ripe for the picking. The volatile Russian wasn’t the sort of player you wanted to let off the hook.

De Minaur recovered to sneak through the set thanks to another stroke of incredibly good fortune — a net cord at 3-all in the tiebreaker. The ball twice hit the net before dribbling over. Rublev constantly looked on the verge of deciding it was all too hard. He threw his racquet and complained incessantly but he did just enough for long enough — and then was untouchable in the closing stages.

From 5-3 up in the fourth set, Rublev won 12 consecutive points, hitting the ball hard and then even harder, going a double-break up to lead the fifth set 3-0. De Minaur tried his heart out until the bitter end. Rublev looked to be cramping or have a leg injury at 4-0 in the fifth set. All he could do was stand and deliver, and he did, barely able to stay on his feet while bringing de Minaur’s gallant campaign to an end.