“I definitely made it a lot harder than I probably should have, but I’m happy to get through, and I did a great job mentally to stay with it, even though I couldn’t hold my serve at the end and I just backed my return.
“I’m just excited to be in the quarter-finals and to have another battle, and give myself a shot. One thing you can definitely count on is me going out there trying my heart out.”
De Minaur plays a backhand return to Fils.Credit: AP
This was a mostly impressive performance outside a brief patch early in the second set – when de Minaur fell 3-0 behind – and that unexpected detour late in the third set, with the Australian nearing victory. But it was also the second-straight match he wobbled at the end.
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Fils, who was visibly nervous in the first few games, performed his best impression of a rollercoaster, with his power-packed highs exceptional but ruined by his penchant for loose, error-riddled service games.
The 34th-ranked showman produced a 15-minute explosion of blistering forehands from a break down in the third set to snatch the final three games and force a fourth set, followed by some conducting of a crowd desperate for more.
Another sloppy game to begin the fourth left him playing catch up, but he had chances in de Minaur’s next two service games to get back on serve, particularly when the Sydneysider’s forehand broke down in the fourth game.
Arthur Fils serves strongly to Alex de Minaur.Credit: Getty Images
De Minaur fell 0-40 behind before digging deep to win the next five points in a crucial moment.
The result seemed as good as sealed in the next game, when de Minaur broke Fils again, poking a volley into the open court after a diving Fils could barely get back his rival’s well-struck down-the-line forehand pass.
Lleyton Hewitt rose to his feet in reaction, and de Minaur’s strength-and-conditioning coach Emilio Poveda Pagan also excitedly bounced out of his chair. Even then, de Minaur dropped serve twice more but was able to keep breaking Fils to seal his win, in what was a somewhat unconvincing finish.
De Minaur rockets to a career-high sixth in the live rankings – leapfrogging Hubert Hurkacz, Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud – and awaits a quarter-final match-up with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic or Holger Rune.
Alex de Minaur gestures after a fall.Credit: AP
Only Hewitt (No.1), John Newcombe (1), Pat Rafter (1), Ken Rosewall (2), Rod Laver (3) and Pat Cash (4) have been ranked higher among Australian men since the ATP Tour rankings began in 1973.
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Hewitt sat alongside de Minaur’s coach Adolfo Gutierrez to witness the 25-year-old’s latest mature display that has helped firmly establish him as one of the tour’s elite players.
Fils had never been beyond the second round of a grand slam before this Wimbledon, whereas de Minaur has reached at least the last 16 at his past four majors, including a maiden Roland-Garros quarter-final last month.
The Australian Open is now the sole slam Australia’s No.1 has not progressed to the last eight.
He was agonisingly close to doing just that in January before Rublev rallied from two-sets-to-one down to pip him in five sets.
De Minaur has also captured two titles this year – in Acapulco and s’Hertogenbosch – and his strong form line is why countryman Alexei Popyrin predicted after his four-set defeat to Djokovic on Saturday night that his Davis Cup teammate could win Wimbledon.
There is still plenty of water to go under the bridge before that becomes a reality, and he is yet to face a seed in his path to the quarter-finals, where the task will be far more difficult.
One thing is for certain: de Minaur’s confidence has never been greater. He has spoken about noticing an “aura” developing around him when other players step onto the court against him.
That much was obvious when Fils said after booking his clash with de Minaur: “He’s one of the fastest guys I know. It’s like if I want to hit one winner, I will have to hit three winners against him.”
Those words must have been music to de Minaur’s ears, and Fils’ fears played out on Wimbledon’s court one as the Australian used his stout defence, dynamic speed, Hewitt-like accuracy on his lob and a variety of angles to repeatedly frustrate his rival.
That perceived pressure undoubtedly contributed to Fils’ 66 unforced errors – 25 more than de Minaur’s tally despite only one winner separating them.