Alex de Minaur has hailed his milestone 50th tour-level win in his best ever season as “amazing” after reaching the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
But now the Australian No. 1 hopes his victory – a 7-5 6-2 win over Portugal’s Nuno Borges – is just a staging post on the way to what could be his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 victory.
De Minaur became only the third man in 2025 to reach the 50-win mark, after Carlos Alcaraz (67) and Taylor Fritz (50), with the Sydneysider also leading the tour with 37 hardcourt wins for the season.
The milestone never looked in doubt when De Minaur earned the only break of the opening set to take the lead 6-5. He started a run of six straight games and took full control in the second, eventually hitting 19 winners and making just 10 unforced errors over the course of an hour and 48 minutes.
It has set up a last-eight date with 16th seed Daniil Medvedev, who outlasted student Ten 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 later on Wednesday.
De Minaur’s season of 50 wins and 18 losses surpasses his previous record of 47-21 last year.
However, the world number 7 has won two titles in 2024 and will be looking to match that with his second of 2025, following his win in Washington in August, with the draw looking wide open following the departure of his nemesis Jannik Sinner and the absence of Carlos Alcaraz.
“For me it just shows consistency and that’s what I’m most proud of,” de Minaur said of his milestone. “It comes out every week, and it’s an amazing number.
“I hope many more people will end the year and not stay at 50. It has been a successful trip to Asia so far.”
The brutally hot and humid conditions in Shanghai have taken their toll, with Sinner forced to withdraw with cramp against Tallon Greek Spoor, while Novak Djokovic was ill on court during his victory over Yannick Hanfmann.
“I told myself at the beginning of the week that it was all going to be a big mental effort to go out there and compete,” de Minaur said. “I’m happy to be in the quarter-finals and give myself another chance.”
Medvedev suffered from cramps during his victory. He kept telling his watching team: “I’m done” and at one point looked as if he was about to quit before finally triumphing after almost three hours against American teenager Tien, who beat him again in a grueling affair at the Australian Open in January.
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De Minaur will face his old Russian foe for the twelfth time on Friday, with the 29-year-old Medvedev leading their head-to-head match 7-4, but “Demon” winning their only match in 2025 in Monte Carlo.
The winner would then have a semi-final against the winner between twelfth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime defeated Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-2 on Wednesday, while Rinderknech defeated Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-3 7-6 (7-5).
Musetti’s defeat is further good news for de Minaur as they are both direct rivals for a place in the eight-man ATP Finals in Turin.
The Italian is in eighth place on 3435 points, 110 behind Minaur in seventh place. Auger-Aliassime has moved up to 2905 points in tenth place, while Briton Jack Draper in ninth place has already been eliminated due to injury.
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