Alex de Minaur survives scare, reaches Antwerp QFs | ATP Tour

Match Report

De Minaur survives scare, reaches Antwerp QFs

Auger-Aliassime, Bautista Agut transfer on at ATP 250 hard-court occasion 

October 16, 2024

May Alex de Minaur be set to ignite a late cost to qualify for his maiden look on the Nitto ATP Finals?

The 25-year-old dug deep to outlive a scare Wednesday on the European Open in Antwerp to assert a victory upon return to tour-level motion. De Minaur bought off to a sluggish begin in his first match because the US Open quarter-finals however rallied from a set all the way down to defeat Roberto Carballes Baena 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to guide his spot within the final eight.

“It’s by no means simple getting back from harm, so I’m glad I used to be capable of win in the present day,” stated de Minaur, who has been nursing a hip harm that pressured him out of the Asian swing. “It took plenty of combat and energy, so I’m glad to get a primary win right here in Antwerp.

“The match is rarely over till the final level, that’s what I all the time inform myself. I’m all the time going to compete till the very finish and it’s helped me win plenty of matches, so I higher preserve doing it.”

De Minaur is at the moment ninth within the PIF ATP Reside Race To Turin, 425 factors behind eighth-placed Andrey Rublev, who’s in motion Thursday in Stockholm. The Australian, who reached the 2020 last in Antwerp, started to seek out his rhythm within the second set, throughout which he received 83 per cent (10/12) of factors behind his first serve, however finally clicked into gear in a gruelling deciding set, prevailing in two hours, 18 minutes.

The highest seed will subsequent face Hugo Gaston, who edged Mariano Navone in an exciting second-round conflict. The Frenchman held his nerve to earn a 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(4) triumph in two hours, 50 minutes.

Earlier, Roberto Bautista Agut produced a steely efficiency in opposition to Tomas Martin Etcheverry to develop into the oldest quarter-finalist in Antwerp match historical past. The 36-year-old Spaniard claimed a commanding 7-6(2), 6-4 win within the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head assembly.

Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime closed the day by rallying previous Marton Fucsovics 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2. The Canadian usually utilized strain on Fucsovics’ serve and created 13 break probabilities, changing three of them, in accordance with Infosys ATP Stats. Auger-Aliassime broke for the primary time at 3-3 within the second set and constructed upon his momentum to enhance to 3-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head sequence with Fucsovics.