Alex de Minaur showcased all of his fighting qualities to complete a revenge mission against Andrey Rublev on Friday at the ABN AMRO Open.
Surging two places to a career-high No. 9 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, De Minaur defeated the second-seeded Rublev 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 to book his maiden semi-final appearance at the indoor ATP 500. With his two-hour, 32-minute triumph, De Minaur also avenged his fourth-round loss to the same opponent at last month’s Australian Open.
Best match records vs. Top 10 in 2024
| Player | W-L vs. Top 10 |
| Alex de Minaur | 4-1 |
| Jannik Sinner | 3-0 |
| Alexander Zverev | 3-1 |
| Daniil Medvedev | 2-1 |
“I kept telling myself to be brave and go after it, because ultimately I can’t just run around against Andrey,” said De Minaur after claiming his fourth Top-10 win of the year. “He’s got too much power, too many weapons, and he’ll just dictate me from one side to the other.
“So if I want to be effective against Andrey, I’ve got to back myself, I’ve got to try to be aggressive and hit the ball flatter and bigger than I normally do. In big moments, I played great, and it got me the win today.”
Through to the 1/2 finals @abnamroopen@alexdeminaur showing how to overcome a 4% #InAttack disadvantage vs Rublev.
— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) February 16, 2024
The key 🔑, being clinical in #Conversion⚔️#TennisInsights | @atptour | #abnamroopen pic.twitter.com/OPbJmQauFv
De Minaur and Rublev stepped on court in Rotterdam level at 3-3 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. That scoreline was reflected in a gripping seventh encounter between the pair, one that was only decided by the Australian clinching a crucial break in the sixth game of the deciding set.
The 24-year-old Australian had earlier taken control of the first-set tie-break with three incredible back-to-back points from 2/4 in the tie-break. Some fierce ballstriking from the back of the court, the kind perhaps more often associated with his opponent, opened up two set points at 6/4. Rublev sprayed a backhand wide on the second of those as De Minaur moved ahead.
Rublev responded quickly, however, and a De Minaur double fault handed Rublev his first break of the match in the third game of the second set. Despite going on to take that set, however, Rublev was unable to prevent the same opponent from defeating him in Rotterdam for the second straight year.
De Minaur has now won six of his past 10 matches against opponents in the Top 5 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Australian is also in impressive form at ATP 500s, having gone 19-6 in that category since the start of 2023, including lifting his first trophy last February in Acapulco.
Awaiting De Minaur in the semi-finals will be Grigor Dimitrov. In the opening singles match of the day at Rotterdam Ahoy, the Bulgarian dug deep to earn his Tour-leading 13th victory of the season with a 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4 triumph against Alexander Shevchenko.
“I played him on my birthday, and he was rude enough to beat me when I was two match points up,” joked De Minaur when asked about his 2023 Rotterdam quarter-final defeat to Dimitrov. “I’m playing him tomorrow, which will be my birthday again, so I’m hoping he’s a little bit nicer to me. We’ll see.”
Dimitrov was unable to break the serve of Shevchenko in the pair's quarter-final clash until he did so decisively in the final game of the match. That clinched a two-hour triumph for the sixth seed, who had struggled to find his best level for much of his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter with the Kazakhstani.
“Just in the last game, I was able to read everything, that’s it,” said Dimitrov in his post-match interview. “I played very poorly, to be honest, but on the other side he is such a great competitor. I’ve seen quite a few of his matches and practised with him in the off-season, and he’s always playing at a high rev.
“Obviously that is fun for me, not as much today, but also the way he was serving was tremendous. I had to stay throughout the whole match. I knew at some point I might get one chance and I would need to use it, and that happened in the last game.”
The 32-year-old Dimitrov is now 19-9 in Rotterdam after reaching the semi-finals there for the fourth time. He is chasing his second ATP Tour crown of the season after starting 2024 by lifting his ninth tour-level crown in Brisbane.
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