Alex de Minaur does not naturally feel at home on the red clay of the European Mediterranean swing.
But the 25-year-old Sydneysider has not reached number 11 in the world without working on all aspects of his game and has gradually becoming accustomed to the unfamiliar ochre.
The Australian number one demonstrated his growing confidence on the surface, which included a win over Rafael Nadal in Barcelona last month, with a battling three-hour win at the Foro Italico over in-form Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, taking him into the last 16 in Rome for the second time in six attempts.
De Minaur recovered from the disappointment of losing the first-set tie-break to win 6-7(2/7), 6-4, 6-4, his 25th victory of the season.
He let a 3-1 lead slip in the deciding set but broke again in the ninth, then served out to seal his first victory against last week’s Madrid finalist.
“Felix is a very good player on the clay,” de Minaur said.
“He had a lot of confidence coming in, so I’m very happy how I stayed in the match at all stages. I was positive, no matter what came my way.
“I could have had a double break in the third to maybe secure the match. I didn’t get it, ended up getting broken, and I managed to compose myself, so I’m very happy with that.”
It was de Minaur’s second win against a top-20 opponent on clay in 13 attempts as he builds to Roland Garros at the end of the month.
The French Open has not been a favourite of Australian men, with no finalists since Rod Laver won the tournament as part of his 1969 Grand Slam.
In recent years, while Ash Barty won the tournament in 2019 and Sam Stosur reached the 2010 final, de Minaur has never made it out of the second round, and Nick Kyrgios reached the third round twice, but stopped playing the clay court major in 2017.
“[My results on clay] aren’t great, so plenty of room for improvement,” de Minaur said.
“Every time I’m out here I’m enjoying it, with a proper mindset, and I think I can play well. Especially when you have nice hot conditions. I’m taking it a match at a time. I’m happy with a quality win on the clay today, and we move on.”
Awaiting de Minaur in the fourth round will be sixth seed Stefanos Tsitspas after the Greek defeated Briton Cameron Norrie 6-2, 7-6(7/1) and has lost two of 14 clay court matches this season.
Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev was surprised by France’s Alexandre Muller 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, ending the Madrid champion’s run of seven straight wins on clay.
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