De Minaur defeats Rublev to reach Rotterdam semis
Australia's Alex De Minaur continued his excellent recent form by exacting revenge on Andrey Rublev at the Rotterdam Open to reach the semi-finals at the ATP 500 event.
Having reached a career-high No.9 in the world rankings, De Minaur saw off No.2 seed Rublev 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3 to book his maiden semi-final appearance at the indoor event.
The 24-year-old also avenged his fourth-round loss to the same opponent at last month’s Australian Open.
“I kept telling myself to be brave and go after it, because ultimately I can’t just run around against Andrey,” De Minaur said after claiming his fourth top-10 win of the year.
“He’s [Rublev] 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.”
De Minaur face Grigor Dimitrov in the last four after the Bulgarian toughed it out to beat Alexander Shevchenko 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-4.
