Tennis world loses its mind over Alex de Minaur as Aussie's beautiful act for rival melts hearts

News.com.au

6 days ago

Aussie Alex de Minaur has melted hearts with an incredible act of sportsmanship after pulling off a comeback for the ages to claim the Washington Open title.
The 26-year-old secured his 10th ATP Tour title in stunning fashion, saving three championship points on his way to a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
De Minaur, who defeated Corentin Moutet in the semi-final and moved up to eighth in the world with Monday's win, but looked to be in a spot of bother, 5-2 down in the third set.
He was able to steady but then found himself staring down the barrel of three championship points late in the set, only to break from 30-0 down at 5-4 and force a tie-break.
The Aussie incredibly saved his third match point with an impeccable lob that caught the line, giving the Australian enough time to recover and win the point.
He then held his nerve to take out the match in a third set tie breaker.
It wasn't the first time the Aussie had to save match points in Washington either, saving four against Andrey Rublev earlier in the tournament.
So unsurprisingly, in the moment he clinched the match, the Aussie was overcome with emotion, letting out a primal scream and launching the ball into the crowd.
He then shook hands at the net with Davidovich Fokina.
But in an incredible act of sportsmanship, the Aussie quickly halted his celebrations after he saw his distraught rival slump onto his chair in tears.
You can watch the classy moment in the video below
De Minaur rushed over to him, sat next to him and put his arm around him, offering words of encouragement.
And to start off his speech to the crowd after being crowned champion, de Minaur heaped praise on his rival.
'I want to start with Alejandro, as I told you and your team, you're way too good not to have one of these,' de Minaur said after the match.
'It's coming for sure. You deserved it today. I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor and player. No one on the tour wants to play you.
'This is not the end. It's only going up for you.'
While Davidovich Fokina paid credit to de Minaur, admitting the Australian 'deserved the win'.
'He was fighting every f***ing ball,' he added.
But it was the beautiful moment between the pair that saw the tennis world fall in love with de Minaur even more.
'What an incredible player and even more incredible man, such a great sport,' one fan wrote about de Minaur's act of kindness towards his rival.
'Demon is a class act,' another said.
While a third commented: 'Not just a great tennis player but a great guy as well'.