When Nuno Borges and Grigor Dimitrov stepped on to Kia Arena for their third round match on Saturday night, many didn’t expect an upset – even Borges didn’t foresee the outcome.
The 26-year-old, who became the first Portuguese player to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open by toppling the 13th seed, said he only began to believe victory was possible close to two hours into the bout.
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“I wasn't ready to win this match when it started,” said Borges. “Maybe in the third set, when I got a break, I was like,‘Holy crap! Maybe I can actually win this.’”
“It’s like people say, take one set at a time, one game at a time,” added the world No.69, who felt less pressure as the underdog. “I kept pushing through, testing my limits, testing his.”
“I know [in] a tennis match anything can happen, and today was just a true example of that,” said Borges, who fought back from a 2-5 fourth set deficit to close out the match 6-7(3) 6-4 6-2 7-6(6).
“I still can’t believe it. What a match, I never expected to be here in second week of Australian Open, who would have thought?” Borges said. Portugal’s top singles player was supported on Saturday by countrymen coach Ruin Machado and occasional doubles partner Francisco Cabral.
Competing in just his eighth Grand Slam, he’s thrilled to fly his nation’s flag into the second week.
“It's big for Portugal,” he said. “I'm proud to be Portuguese and be here competing in [one of] the biggest tournaments in the world.”
“I hope I'm showing the younger kids that it is possible - a little bit of luck and working hard, it is possible to achieve,” added Borges, who is only the second player from his nation to make the fourth round of any major after Joao Sousa.
“I've done way more than I ever wished for before,” he told ATPTour.com before defeating Dimitrov.
Borges’ path to professional tennis isn’t well trodden by most of his European peers. At 18, he enrolled at Mississippi State University instead of entering the grueling ITF Futures circuit.
“I thought to myself, am I ready?” he said. “I thought the Futures were tough, I didn't have great experiences playing them and it just felt a little intimidating going towards that step full time… playing 30 tournaments a year out there.”
By committing to college tennis, he had four years to develop his craft, including on hard courts, and competed in tournaments during summer breaks. “I felt like I had a really good professional setting where I could work out consistently and have a team to push me,” Borges said. He reached the final of the NCAA Singles Championships in 2019.
The detour, and subsequent success on the ATP Challenger Tour, are proving to be the right choice.
After taking out 23rd seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets in the second round and then, in his words, doing an “unreal” job seizing opportunities against Dimitrov, Borges will next tackle third seed Daniil Medvedev on Monday.
Because he’s spent most of his career amassing points at Challengers, he is yet to play against or practise with the third seed.
Borges earned his first top 20 win by defeating Dimitrov. “I’m pretty new to this still,” he said with a smile. “I didn't really have many chances to compete against most of the top 10 or top 20 guys.
“I'm expecting a really tough match…last few years he's been really consistent at [going deep in Grand Slams],” he said of 2021 US Open champion and two-time AO finalist Medvedev.
“It's going to be a big challenge for me, I'm excited,” added Borges, acknowledging that the stakes are so much higher at a major.
“[At] the slams, you really feel a different vibe,” he said. “The crowds are huge, the attention is more, the games mean more, the matches are like, that's where everybody gives all it takes to get wins here,” he said.
He notes too that he’s become more comfortable in an atmosphere that he initially found intimidating.
“Winning best-of-five sets, it really takes a whole lot, [you] really feel like you need to deserve the match [compared] to winning three sets.”
Borges, who idolised Roger Federer, said he wants to play against a certain 10-time AO champion. “I'd love to play Novak…I'd love to go on court with him, it would be the biggest pleasure for me to battle.”
If he can get past Medvedev, the 26-year-old – who already says he’s living the dream – may find himself just two wins away from that dream match-up.