Alex de Minaur has spoiled the coming-of-age party for "an incredible talent" as he marched into the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters in his first claycourt tournament of the season.
The Australian had his hands full in Thursday's last-16 clash against rising star Alexander Blockx, who'd celebrated his 21st birthday just the day before with the best win of his career, before finally subduing the Belgian qualifier 7-5 7-6(4) on Court des Princes at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.
It thrust De Minaur into the quarters at the prestigious ATP 1000 event which he really enjoys, having also made the semis last year, and helped erase the disappointment of two recent early exits at Indian Wells and Miami.
"It was unfortunate to lose early in the States, because I was actually quite happy with my level and thought I hopefully could go deep," said the world No.6.
"But these things happen, and ultimately, I'm happy I've bounced back here on the clay. Hopefully it's the start of a good clay swing."
With the victory, De Minaur became the first Australian to make three Monte Carlo quarterfinals in the Open era.
It wasn't easy, though, as big-serving world No.91 Blockx, who'd beaten 10th seed Flavio Cobolli 24 hours earlier, raced into an early 4-2 lead, forcing De Minaur to conjure up a couple of breaks to seal the set.
Neither could summon a break in the second stanza, but De Minaur's extra aggression in the tiebreak - he hit 21 winners on the day - helped him wrap up the hard-fought victory in one hour 47 minutes.
In the quarters, 'Demon' will find himself pretty friendless as he faces local Monegasque hero Valentin Vacherot, who beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-4.
That continued the fairytale rise which began when, as the world no.204, Vacherot won last year's Shanghai Masters as an alternate qualifier.
"It's still the first week of the clay and there's things I would love to do a little bit better, but, hey, I'm in the quarterfinals, and I'm excited for the battle," said De Minaur.
He'll have even more illustrious company in the last eight, as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner remain on course for a shootout for the world No.1 spot in the final.
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