De Minaur notches 50th win in Shanghai surge
Under Shanghai’s evening lights, Alex de Minaur powers past Nuno Borges for a season milestone, advancing to face a familiar foe in Daniil Medvedev while upsets ripple through the draw.
In the humid embrace of Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, seventh-seeded Alex De Minaur outlasted Nuno Borges 7-5, 6-2, his 19 winners cutting through the night to secure a spot in the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals after one hour and 47 minutes of probing rallies. The Australian’s speed turned defense into sharp counters, pinning his opponent deep with crosscourt forehands that forced hurried replies. This victory marks his seventh Masters 1000 quarterfinal and cements him as the third player to reach 50 tour-level wins in 2025.
Navigating a tense first-set battle
De Minaur absorbed Borges’ flat groundstrokes early, mixing underspin returns to disrupt the Portuguese player’s low-bouncing rhythm on these medium-fast hard courts. At 5-5 in the opener, he faced break points but steadied with inside-out forehands that stretched Borges wide, securing the hold and break at 7-5 amid rising crowd energy. That shift unlocked the second set, where de Minaur’s one–two combinations—serve followed by deep topspin—overwhelmed, turning potential grind into controlled dominance.
Only top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz with 67 wins and Taylor Fritz with 50 have already hit the 50-win mark this season, a tally that surpasses de Minaur‘s personal best of 47 victories from 2024, when he claimed two titles. His path reflects a season of tactical refinement, prioritizing hard-court consistency to build momentum into Asia’s swing.
Milestone fuels quarterfinal push
Awaiting in the quarters is 16th-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who edged Learner Tien 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 6-4 in a tiebreak-heavy scrap that tested his elastic defense. De Minaur’s improved net play could exploit any fatigue from Medvedev’s three-setter, varying pace to counter the Russian’s flat backhands down-the-line. On Shanghai’s surface, where speed rewards aggression, this matchup promises a tactical duel of rhythm-breakers and retrievers.
Elsewhere, 12th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime overpowered eighth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2, his booming serves dismantling the Italian’s one-handed backhand to arrange a clash with Arthur Rinderknech. The 54th-ranked Frenchman, after upsetting No. 15 Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-6 (5) and earlier third-seeded Alexander Zverev, now shares the quarters with cousin Valentin Vacherot, weaving family stakes into the underdog surge.
Eyeing deeper runs ahead
De Minaur’s milestone eases the psychological load of a demanding year, channeling relief into sharper focus for the hard-court finale. With Medvedev looming, he’ll lean on footwork-honed patterns to dictate points, the arena’s pulse amplifying his drive toward semifinals and a redefined campaign.