The six-time major quarterfinalist is one of the tour’s most consistent performers, having failed to reach the last 16 at a Grand Slam just once in his last 10 attempts.
De Muir has made no secret of his desire to one day hold the Australian Open trophy. But first he must exact revenge against world No. 10 Alexander Bilbek, who beat him in straight sets in the second round of Roland Garros last year to start the Kazakh’s career-best run.
Balbak booked a De Mainar clash with a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over Argentina’s Tomas Martin Echurere.
Tifo attempted an improbable late fightback after going down a break in the third set, drawing level and threatening to extend the match to a fourth.
But another wild foreboding, off a service return that De Menard barely held, saved Tiafou’s break points after he had saved the previous four break points with Alifai Tens.
Even so, De Maior faltered a bit with the finish line in sight, needing three match points—aside from a break-back point on either side—to complete victory in two hours and 43 minutes.
“Francis is a hell of a competitor, a hell of a player, and it was a hell of a battle, so much respect for him,” he said.
“I played some of my best tennis for two and a half sets in the tournament, and he picked up when he needed to, and he started to grow. He started to come back and play with some depth, taking the racket out of my hands.
“I just had to manage it, and it was quite stressful at the end, but I’m very relieved that I got over the line.”
De Manor had to absorb some early blows from TIFOE, including conceding a pair of break points in the seventh game. The second of these was the beginning of De Muir’s rise, and was a perfect encapsulation of why the contest swung in his favor.
Tiafoe returned a deep delivery to him, but De Manor somehow controlled a half-volley from just inside the baseline, before the American fooled a forehand.
It was far from the last time De Manor’s stubborn defense came to light. As for former world number 10 Tiafoe, he lacked the same patience and diligence with his decision-making.
De Muir controlled the proceedings from that moment until midway through the third set.
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He has an incredible knack for chasing balls and finding ways to extend rallies and put his opponents in difficult positions. Something else De Manor did on Friday night was being able to dictate from the baseline regularly while moving the Typhoons at the other end.
“I was very happy with the way I was hitting the ball, in a heavy position against an opponent who is quite strong and activates the ball very well and can easily get over me – but that wasn’t the case today,” De Manor said.
Tiafoe, who dropped the first set, suffered a blow to his chances after such a bright start, and was quickly in trouble early in the second.
Down break point in the third game, Tiafoe hit a stunning inside-out backhand to go up, but De Manor denied Relent by doing his best impression of a windscreen wiper.
At one point in an extraordinary 22-shot exchange, he threw a defensive lob from the doubles alley on one side of the court before splashing to the other side and sliding right into the forehand that miraculously landed deep and neutralized the rally.
The scene at Rod Laver Arena on Friday night.Credit: Alex Koppel
Like many other times in the match, TIAFOE blinked first to eventually splash a downline backhand.
It was only one point, but it absolutely capped this contest.
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