De Minaur defeats Rublev in Rotterdam, gets birthday rematch against Dimitrov

Alex de Minaur lost to Andrey Rublev in five sets at the Australian Open and also went down to the Russian in last weekend’s UTS Oslo final, but the tide turned at the ABN AMRO Open on Friday afternoon. De Minaur prevailed 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 after two hours and 32 minutes to secure his spot in the semifinals.

The margins in Friday’s second Rotterdam quarterfinal were very small, as they normally are between these two players. Rublev was two points away from winning the first set and in the third set the world No. 5 got a look at break points in three different games. However, not once could he convert. As a result, all De Minaur needed was one break of his own–his only one the whole day–and it came at 3-2.

“I kept telling myself to be brave and go after it, because ultimately I can’t just run around against Andrey,” the 11th-ranked Australian said. “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.”

How’s this for a fun fact? De Minaur and Dimitrov will now face each other on De Minaur’s birthday for the second straight year. Their 2023 Rotterdam matchup came in the quarterfinals, with Dimitrov saving two match points to survive a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) thriller.

“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.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.