Headlining an ATP Tour event seemed to suit Alex de Minaur on Thursday in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
The Australian held off Zizou Bergs with a 7-5, 6-4 victory at the Libema Open, competing as the top seed for the first time in his tour-level career. Whatever additional pressure it might bring, the No. 9 in the PIF ATP Rankings took it easy as he rallied from a 1-4 deficit to claim a straight sets win in one hour and 41 minutes.
High quality seed!@alexdeminaur eliminated Bergs 7-5 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals.@Libema Open | #LibemaVula pic.twitter.com/p5dssiKVJa
– ATP Tour (@atptour) June 13, 2024
“It feels good. “Zizou is a firecracker and a tricky opponent and I am very happy that I was able to win today,” said De Minaur in his court interview. “First win of the grass court season, hopefully many, many more.
“My first game on grass [this season]. I managed to find a few [practice] it lives here and there, but nothing like a match. it’s good to get a win under my belt and hopefully I can get some confidence from this.”
De Minaur won 86 percent (32/37) of the points after his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to extend his winning record against Belgian opponents to 7-0. He has now won his opening seven rounds on grass, and the 25-year-old will face either Roberto Bautista Agut or Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals.
[ATP APP]There was double American delight earlier in the day in the Netherlands, where Tommy Paul and Sebastian Korda both qualified to ensure they will meet in the quarter-finals.
Second seed Paul got his grass court season off to a good start to register a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over Alexei Popyrin. It was the first victory of the World No. 13 in three attempts at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, where he is now in the quarter-finals of level five on grass.
Korda fought off Luca Nardi 7-5, 7-5 to reach the last eight in his debut. The seventh seed leads Paul 3-1 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series: Korda beat his compatriot three times at the ATP 250 level in 2021, before Paul won in five sets at the 2022 US Open. None of their previous clashes were played on grass.
In the match that started on Wednesday evening, Aleksandar Vukic defeated fourth seed Karen Khachanov 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4). The pair returned to the court on Thursday afternoon together, and it was the Australian World No. 87 to pull off the upset and reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final on grass. Vukic will next face defending champion and home favorite Tallon Griekspoor.
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