Australian Open 2024: John McEnroe hails Andrey Rublev for ‘greatest fifth set ever’ in Alex de Minaur win

John McEnroe feels he witnessed “one of the greatest fifth sets ever” from Andrey Rublev as he dug deep to dispatch Alex de Minaur after a mammoth last 16 tie.

Rublev trailed the Australian two sets to one on Rod Laver Arena before levelling the match with a relatively comfortable fourth set.

At that point, both players were running out of steam, but Rublev had just enough in the tank to produce a bagel in the decider to make sure of his spot in the quarter-finals.

Following an encounter which stretched four hours and 15 minutes, McEnroe told Eurosport he had just witnessed “one of the all-time efforts” from the Russian.

“[It was] incredible to be here during that match,” the American great said on Eurosport’s coverage.

“De Minaur, one of the fastest guys I’ve ever seen on a tennis court, and Andrey Rublev, who goes after the ball big time. The fact that he was able to come from two sets to one down and find that extra energy… he was cramping late in that fifth set, and just going for absolute broke, but everything was going in.

“That’s one of the greatest fifth sets I’ve ever seen anyone play, much less Andrey Rublev, so maybe he can get over the hump. He’s 0-9 in the quarters [at Grand Slams] so maybe it will be 10th time lucky, he sure as hell deserves it after that performance tonight.

“That was one of the all-time efforts, he dug deeper than I’ve ever seen. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, the fuse is lit and he’s going to go nuts and I can totally relate to that, I know what he’s feeling.”

After consecutive tie-breaks to take a 2-1 lead, De Minaur looked on course for a spot in the last eight, but Rublev held his nerve to force a decider.

Despite falling behind initially, McEnroe was pleased with Rublev’s character as the momentum began to shift in his favour.

“I was actually really impressed with the third set that he kept his cool and that he was able to bounce back and get that lead in the fourth. And then he let it all hang out in the fifth,” he said.

“Considering the situation I thought both guys played really well. And Rublev is going to remember that fifth set for a really long time.”

Next for Rublev is a match-up with Jannick Sinner as the pair battle for a place in the semi-finals, and McEnroe feels Rublev will have his work cut out for him once more.

“Unfortunately, he’s got to play one of the hottest guys on the tour right now, so it’s a very tall order right now to ask Rublev to get to his first Slam semi,” McEnroe said.

“But what an effort, I’ve known him since he was a kid – he’s always brought it, always had a lot of energy, he’s very well liked in the locker room, a lot of respect from the other players.”