De Minaur breezes past Korda in Rotterdam

Alex de Minaur eased out of the blocks in Rotterdam on Tuesday at the ABN AMRO Open.

The fifth-seeded Australian downed Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-3 with a solid first-round display at the indoor ATP 500. De Minaur saved all four break points he faced to capitalise on a wayward display from Korda and set a second-round clash with qualifier David Goffin.

“It was probably a match where we both didn’t play our best level,” said De Minaur, the No. 11 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings who is now 7-2 for the year. “It’s always difficult coming into a new tournament. It was my first time hitting on centre court and it felt like a couple of balls were skidding out there. I’m happy with the effort. I got through, Seb’s a talented player and he was a very tricky opponent today.”

Stunning display 😍

Unreal point by @alexdeminaur on his way to defeating Korda 6-4 6-3 to advance in Rotterdam.@abnamroopen | #bnamroopen pic.twitter.com/yXqPGPpdP9

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 13, 2024

Alexander Bublik and Alexander Shevchenko also notched opening victories on the centre court at Rotterdam Ahoy. Bublik backed up his championship-match win against Borna Coric in Montpellier nine days ago by defeating the Croatian 6-3, 6-4 in an early-season Lexus ATP Head2Head rematch. The in-form Kazakhstani, who sent down 13 aces according to Infosys ATP Stats, next faces his fellow big server Milos Raonic.

Bublik’s countryman Shevchenko pulled through an absorbing one-hour, 55-minutes against Zhang Zhizhen for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win. He will next play the winner of Wednesday’s meeting between third seed Holger Rune and Roman Safiullin. The other day session winner on Tuesday was Marton Fucsovics, who won an all-Hungarian battle with Fabian Marozsan 7-6(5), 6-1.