Alex de Minaur sets up Carlos Alcaraz final in 17-year first before Wimbledon

Alex de Minaur has issued a stunning statement to his tennis rivals ahead of Wimbledon after becoming the first Aussie in 17 years to make the final of the prestigious Queen's Club Championship. De Minaur will face World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz for the title after recording a stunning upset win over second seed Holger Rune.

Australia's No.1 ranked player earned one of the best wins of his career to defeat the Danish star 6-3 7-6 (7-2) in an immaculate semi-final display. Not since de Minaur's idol Lleyton Hewitt won the last of his four titles in 2006 has an Australian man played in the final of the most prestigious pre-Wimbledon grass-court event.

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In a match where the soaring temperatures required two separate second-set stoppages for spectators in the stands to receive medical assistance, de Minaur was simply too hot to handle for Rune. The 20-year-old Rune delivered an error-ridden first game on serve to immediately let de Minaur cash in, and was effectively playing catch-up in vain for the rest of the match as the Australian, serving with a bit of extra heat and making just one unforced error in the opening set, never got broken.

A second break at the end of the opening set left de Minaur in control, and he created the best chances too in the second stanza when Rune, who was on the backfoot for most of the afternoon, had to save three break points to avoid going 5-3 down. De Minaur's own major moment of concern came when he had to rescue two break points of his own at 5-5, but he then dominated the tiebreak to set up the chance of earning the biggest triumph of his career on Sunday, topping even his triumph in Acapulco in another ATP 500 tournament in March.

"I play pretty decent on the grass and I'm having an amazing week, and today I reckon was my best match so far, so happy days. We keep on going; one more to go," de Minaur told the crowd.

De Minaur even showed his class in a post-match, on-court speech where he offered his well wishes to the spectators who needed assistance in the stands due to the blistering heat. As to de Minaur's own form, it was so hot that watching former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski said: "This week he has been as good as I've ever seen him play in his career."

Alex de Minaur into Queen's final against Carlos Alcaraz

Denmark's World No.6 Rune is still finding his way on grass and looked much less comfortable than the Australian, who faces a daunting task trying to stop Alcaraz regain the World No.1 status in Sunday night's (AEST) final. Alcaraz was brilliant in his 6-3 6-4 win over Sebastian Korda as he continues to improve in what is just the third grass court tournament of the Spaniard's ATP Tour career.

Alcaraz has adapted quickly to the conditions after a tough first round clash against French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech. The US Open champion had to recover from a slow start as he was broken for the only time in the opening game.

However, Korda was let down by double faults at key moments as Alcaraz broke back immediately and edged a tight first set after breaking again in the eighth game. The second set was more straightforward for Alcaraz who broke to love in the third game and comfortably served it out.

"I'm playing great, I'm feeling great," said Alcaraz, adding that this was the best performance of his short career on the grass to date. "I'm really happy to play here in Queen's. Since the first match, I feel the love from the crowd."

A fifth title of the year would take Alcaraz back above Djokovic as World No.1. It will also give him top seeding at Wimbledon which gets underway on July 3.

"Right now I feel like I'm playing for 10 years on grass, it's something crazy for me," added Alcaraz who will be aiming for an 11th career title. "I didn't expect to adapt my movement, my game so fast on grass. I'm really happy with that."

with agencies

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