Frustrated Alex de Minaur has had the most scorching spell of his career on the clay courts finally doused in the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters in a nail-biting loss to Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
Seeking to become the first Australian since John Newcombe in 1969 to reach the final of the prestigious Masters 1000 event, de Minaur continued surfing on his extraordinary wave of confidence over the week by blasting past Musetti 6-1 in the first set of Saturday's last-four duel.
Following his astounding 'double bagel' 6-0 6-0 quarter-final win over Grigor Dimitrov and his 6-2 6-2 pounding of Daniil Medvedev in the last-16, another swift win for the new-look, self-styled ruthless 'Clay Dog' looked on the cards at the Monte Carlo Country Club.
