Alex de Minaur advanced to the semifinals of the ABN AMRO Open with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 victory over Andrey Rublev on Friday afternoon. De Minaur set up a Rotterdam rematch with Grigor Dimitrov after two hours and 32 minutes.
As is normally the case between these two players, the margins were very small. Rublev, who beat De Minaur in five sets at last month’s Australian Open, was two points away from winning the first set and in the third set he earned break points in three different return games. Nonetheless, the fifth-ranked Russian never managed to convert. As such, all De Minaur needed was one break of his own–his only one in the entire match–at 3-2 in the decider.
“I kept telling myself to be brave and go after it, because ultimately I can’t just run around against Andrey,” the world No. 11 explained. “He’s got too much power, too many weapons, and he’ll just dictate me from one side to the other.
“So if I want to be effective against Andrey, I’ve got to back myself; I’ve got to try to be aggressive and hit the ball flatter and bigger than I normally do. In big moments I played great, and it got me the win today.”
Interestingly, De Minaur and Dimitrov will square off on the Aussie’s birthday for a second year in a row. Last season’s Rotterdam matchup came in the quarterfinals, where the Bulgarian won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6).
“I played him on my birthday and he was rude enough to beat me when I was two match points up,” De Minaur joked. “I’m playing him tomorrow, which will be my birthday again, so I’m hoping he’s a little bit nicer to me. We’ll see.”
The overall head-to-head series is tied at 2-2, including 1-1 on indoor hard courts.
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