Source : ABC NEWS
Alex de Minaur has been left deflated by another agonising big-match loss as local hero Valentin Vacherot continued his fairytale rise by reaching the Monte Carlo Masters semifinal.
World number six de Minaur, with his mother in his player’s box at the Monte Carlo Country Club, saw another big opportunity evaporate as he eventually succumbed 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 against Vacherot, the Monegasque who has risen spectacularly over the past six months.
It felt like one of those near misses that de Minaur berated himself for last season as he looked to have weathered a storm from the powerful Vacherot and gradually wore him down, only for the weary 27-year-old to summon one last blistering salvo to down the game Australian after an absorbing two hours and 24 minutes.
The crowd at Vacherot’s home club, including family and scores of old friends, cheered him to the rafters as he finally overcame the typically resilient de Minaur, who saved two match points with audacious drop shots in the final game before falling to an unstoppable forehand service-return winner.
Extraordinarily, it means the last four in Monte Carlo will feature the world’s top three — Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev — plus Vacherot, the man who this time last year was ranked 285th in the world.
Before this year, Valentin Vacherot had never passed the second round at his home Masters tournament. (Getty Images: Julian Finney)
“That sounds amazing — such an honour for me to be along with the best three players of the last few years. To play Carlos in the semifinal in my home is amazing,” said Vacherot, whose stunning rise began at October’s Shanghai Masters when he won as the world number 204 after coming through qualifying.
Before this year, he had never been past the second round at his home Masters tournament. He has now climbed into the top 20 for the first time.
De Minaur, meanwhile, will lose ranking points and slip from his career-high spot after reaching the semis at this tournament last year.
It is a dream semi for the organisers and the chances remain there will be a Sinner-Alcaraz final, which would be the big two’s first duel on clay since last year’s epic French Open showdown — won by the Spaniard — and would also be a showdown to decide who will be number one in the world.
Current top dog Alcaraz was merciless in disposing of Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-0 for the 300th tour-level victory of his career in just his 367th match.
In the Open era, only Australian legend Rod Laver (355 matches) and American great Jimmy Connors (363) got to the landmark faster.
Meanwhile, Sinner became just the fourth player to rack up 20-successive Masters 1000 wins by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4.
Sinner follows the great trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in achieving the 20-wins-in-a-row landmark.
World number two Sinner will face Zverev in the semis after the German had to summon his best to subdue the precocious talent of 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3.
AAP
