De Minaur Downs Rublev; Zverev Also Upset In Rotterdam

Alex de Minaur earned his third Top 5 win in four months on Wednesday at the ABN AMRO Open, producing a dominant display to defeat second seed Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-4.

De Minaur did not face a break point in the one-hour, 21-minute matchup, winning 88 per cent (28/32) of his first-serve points. He put pressure on Rublev early in both sets and secured a break in the third game of each.

“It was a hell of a mach,” De Minaur said after advancing to the last 16 at the Rotterdam ATP 500. “I think I had the right mindset. I knew I had to be aggressive and take it to him, and really believe in myself. I’ve been practising great. I’ve been doing exactly what I did today on the practice court. So it was great to see it all come alive.”

The 23-year-old did his damage from all parts of the court, hitting 19 winners to seven unforced errors and winning 11 of 14 net points.

Flying into the next round @alexdeminaur @abnamroopen #ConversionScore calculates the percentage of points won when the player has been #InAttack#StealScore calculates how often a player has won the point when they are in defence during the point#TennisInsights | @atptour pic.twitter.com/F79YeBc2In

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) February 15, 2023

After starting 0-18 against Top 5 players, De Minaur has now won three of his past four such matches. He beat Daniil Medvedev in November at the Rolex Paris Masters and Rafael Nadal at the United Cup.

“I think it was just me popping the cherry with Medvedev and really believing that I’ve got the level to compete against these guys and beat these guys,” he said. “It’s coming all together. I’m playing with a lot more confidence, a lot more relaxed and just playing my tennis.”

De Minaur followed his win against Nadal with a run to the fourth round of the Australian Open, matching his best result at his home Slam. He dropped just one set in his three wins before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

Maxime Cressy will be his next opponent in Rotterdam.

In a second-round match in Rotterdam, home favourite Tallon Griekspoor scored an upset of his own against eighth seed Alexander Zverev. In a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory, the Dutchman saved three break points to hold for 2-2 in the final set then broke at love for a 4-3 lead.

The 26-year-old, who won his first ATP Tour title last month in Pune, improved to 9-1 on the season. One of three players already through to the Rotterdam quarter-finals alongside Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov, Griekspoor awaits fourth seed Holger Rune or fellow Dutch wild card Gijs Brouwer in the last eight.