Dominant De Minaur Earns Zhuhai Final Spot

When Alex de Minaur has reached an ATP Tour semi-final in 2019, he has gone on to win the title.

The Sydney and Atlanta champion kept his hopes of maintaining that record alive in emphatic fashion on Saturday at the Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships, cruising past World No. 10 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-2.

“[I was] pretty much playing with my eyes closed,” said De Minaur. “I could not do anything wrong today. It was just one of those days. [I was] playing poor before the match and I hit two of the luckiest shots I’ve hit in my life and my coach [said], ‘Today’s going to be a good day.’ And it was.”

De Minaur was at his best throughout the 78-minute encounter in Zhuhai, dropping just one point behind his first serve (19/20) and converting four of five break points to reach his third championship match of the season. The Australian No. 1 improves to 27-15 this year after recording his second Top 10 victory, adding to his maiden Top 10 win against Kei Nishikori at the US Open last month.

“I’ve got this level, the level I brought today. Now it’s all about trying to bring this level as often as I can,” said De Minaur.

”If I can try to bring this level almost every week, then I’ll be going deep in tournaments and beating these top guys and pushing for titles. It’s all about mentally staying in the moment and not losing concentration and trying to back up every day.”

The 20-year-old made a quick start, breaking Bautista Agut in the fourth game with greater consistency from the baseline. De Minaur outlasted the Spaniard in a series of backhand rallies and used his pace well to cover the court before breaking to love for a 5-2 lead.

After converting set point with a powerful serve into Bautista Agut’s forehand, the World No. 31 repeated the same pattern in the second set to claim victory. De Minaur continued to focus his attack on his opponent’s backhand to extract errors and booked his place in the championship match with a crosscourt forehand winner.

De Minaur will face Adrian Mannarino for the first time in the final. The Frenchman defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 to reach his second tour-level championship match of the year.

“Mannarino is a very tricky player, a veteran player who has won a lot of matches and has been playing some great tennis this week,” said De Minaur. “I know it’s going to be really tough and it’s going to be very different to any match I’ve played this week, so I’m ready to fight off a lot of great points by him… and have some fun out there.”

The 31-year-old started and finished with a flourish to improve to 2-0 in ATP Tour semi-finals this year, winning the opening seven and final five games of the match to advance after two hours and three minutes. Ramos-Vinolas was aiming to notch his 30th tour-level victory of the year in his fourth ATP Tour semi-final of the season (2-2).

“That was a really tough match. Conditions are really humid here and it was really physical, but I was able to stay really concentrated. Even if I lost the second set, I stayed consistent with a lot of energy in the third set,” said Mannarino. “I finally got the break in a really close game at the beginning of the third set and that gave me a push up and I was able to finish well too. I am pretty happy with my performance today and I hope I am going to keep going like this in the final.”

Mannarino will be bidding to add a second ATP Tour trophy to his collection in the final. Appearing in his seventh tour-level championship match at the Libema Open in June, the Frenchman defeated Jordan Thompson in straight sets to become the oldest first-time champion on the ATP Tour this year.