At 18 years of age, Alex De Minaur has already impressed back in January when he reached the semifinal in Brisbane and the final in Sydney when he was still ranked out of the top200. Later in the year, the young Australian had some excellent runs in the Challenger circuit to win also the title in Nottingham. Now Alex reaches the final in Washington after winning an “impossible” semifinal.
The match
In the final 4, De Minaur was opposed to the world no.46 Alex Rublev, and he looked doomed when he had to face 4 consecutive match points in the second set tiebreak (2-6). Eventually, the Australian managed to win 6 consecutive points before bringing the affair to the decider.
In the 3rd set, De Minaur was not out the woods, and he was also 1 break down the 3rd set after conceding his serve in the 3rd game (1-2). Once again, the youngster found his way back to break Rublev twice soon after and conquer a 4-2 lead. However, the drama was not over, and the Australian lost his own serve at 15 in the 7th game (4-3). Everything went down to the photo finish, and De Minaur conquered the final and decisive break in the 10th game after converting his 4th match point. The final result was 5-7 7-6 (6) 6-4.
I am incredibly proud of myself. DE MINAUR
Soon after the match, Alex commented
“I’m incredibly proud of myself. I dug deep. I just couldn’t see myself going any further.
But I kept pushing myself, kept trying every single point and managed to turn that win. That’s probably the best win of my career.”
The final vs. Zverev
Alex will play his first ATP final against Sascha Zverev. The head to head is 1-0 for Sascha after the German defeated him in 5 sets during this year Davis Cup. Sascha is the obvious favorite to win the title, but…
DIE HARD!
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