Alex de Minaur continues stellar run after Australian Open heartache
The 23-year-old Aussie has powered into the quarter-finals in Rotterdam.
Aussie star Alex de Minaur has powered into the quarter-finals in Rotterdam, beating Maxime Cressy 24 hours after a stunning win over World No.5 Andrey Rublev. De Minaur won 7-5 3-6 6-3 in the last-16 on Thursday.
The win sets up a quarter-final showdown with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, containing the Aussie's bounceback from a crushing loss to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. A buoyant de Minaur has been barely recognisable from the figure who appeared so downcast after being schooled by Djokovic three weeks ago.
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"It's all coming together. I'm playing with a lot more confidence, a lot more relaxed and just playing my tennis," de Minaur had beamed after his straight sets win over Rublev.
De Minaur entered the Australian Open in great form having defeated Rafa Nadal at the United Cup. However the 23-year-old's campaign was ended after he was demolished at the hands of eventual champion Djokovic.
But in promising signs, the Australian bounced back in emphatic fashion having knocked out No.2 seed Rublev 6-4 6-4. De Minaur now has three wins over top-five opponents in the last six months after defeating Daniil Medvedev at the Paris Masters, Nadal at the United Cup and Rublev in Rotterdam.
"I'm very, very happy with the performance and I always knew there was a high chance the match would be taken away from my racquet the way he plays," said world No.25 de Minaur, who nade nine unforced errors to Cressy's 33. "I just tried to stay tough mentally, try to win every point I could and not let everything bother me.
"There's not too many out there on tour like him, for sure. It's always complicated, especially because he serves two first-serves, so you've always got to be on it on the return. There's big points when he's going to hit aces on second serve and you've just got to put up with it and try to give yourself another chance."
The Aussie had employed a brilliant game plan against Rublev as he targeted the Russian's backhand to help nullify the forehand. De Minaur attacked at every opportunity, taking the ball uncomfortably early for Rublev's liking and effectively took him out of his comfort zone.
'Demon' didn't give up a single break point over the whole match and cracked 15 winners as his constant aggression gradually gnawed away at Rublev's confidence, reducing him to some elementary errors, including one embarrassing smash buried into the bottom of the net. The No.2 seed made 24 unforced errors, and just as many that really were squeezed from him as he found de Minaur's early, clean striking too much to cope with.
Fans were quick to praise de Minaur for his tactical masterclass that frustrated the big-hitting Russian in Rotterdam.
DE MINAUR WINS! 🤯🇦🇺
Alex De Minaur eliminates Andrey Rublev in Rotterdam with a double 6-4 and moves to R2. He will face Cressy.
Third win vs. top 5 players for Demon (3 in the last 4 encounters). pic.twitter.com/Hwad9DnCzU— Relevant Tennis (@RelevantTennis) February 15, 2023
Bit of a masterclass performance from De Minaur there
Didn't give Rublev a sniff— Forced Errors (@ForcedErrors) February 15, 2023
Really, really good win for De Minaur. #abnamroopen https://t.co/6usHRFcgKI
— UltraTennis 🇬🇧 (@UltraTennisUK) February 15, 2023
De Minaur lost his first 18 matches against top-5 players, has now won 3 of his last 4 (wins: Medvedev, Nadal, Rublev).
— Gill Gross 🧋 (@Gill_Gross) February 15, 2023
Are we finally seeing his full potential? Remember a lot of fuss when he first came on the scene
— Nick Carter (@nick_bcarter) February 15, 2023
De Minaur today has been exposing everything wrong with Rublev and what holds him back from taking that “next step” in his game. Take time away from him on the backhand side and bring him to the net (where he isn’t comfortable) and you will have chances to beat Andrey.
— Ryan (@tennistalkcox) February 15, 2023
Alexander Bublik's meltdown at Rotterdam Open
Elsewhere in Rotterdam, Kakazahkstan star Alexander Bublik suffered a breakdown during his 7-6, 6-4 loss to three-time grand slam champ Stan Wawrinka. Bublik was down in the second set when he entered into a bizarre rant with the chair umpire.
"I'm complaining about how stupid this f**king sport is, because its f**king stupid," Bublik said. "Playing tennis is a headache."
Bublik did not recover and continued his poor run of form in singles events on the ATP Tour. Following the victory, Wawrinka and Bublik shared a brief chat at the net.
It appeared Bublik explained his frustration to Wawrinka, before wishing them the best. What makes the encounter more bizarre is Bublik and Wawrinka teamed-up in doubles at Rotterdam the next day.
The pair were victorious defeating No.7 seed Croatian pair Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic in the first round. Despite the pair enjoying themselves on the court and sharing a laugh in the doubles, Bublik was less thrilled after his singles loss. Fans were quick to point out the unusual circumstances that saw the doubles pair facing off in round 1 of the singles event.
with AAP
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