De Minaur’s Italian job sets up date with world No.1

Finals-hunting Alex de Minaur has made it into the Vienna Open semi-finals for the third-straight year by defeating Matteo Berrettini.

Alex de Minaur has enjoyed a landmark 350th tour-level win of his career at the Vienna Open, downing an old rival to set up a semi-final date with the world No.1-elect Alexander Zverev.

Australia’s main man defeated Matteo Berrettini, the Italian he’s had plenty of trouble with down the years, for the second successive year in the quarter-final of the ATP 500 event at the Wiener Stadthalle.

Not only did his 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 triumph set ‘Demon’ up for a third duel in just over a month with Zverev on Saturday but it boosted his bid to reach the season-ending men’s championship, the ATP Finals, which still lies in the balance.

World No.10 de Minaur found a way to draw first blood in a tight first stanza after saving a set point at 5-6, going on to take control of the tiebreak when the Italian, almost criminally, plonked a simple put-away into the net.

De Minaur crucially saved a couple of break points at the start of the next set and cashed in by himself breaking Berrettini for the first time in the next game when the Italian produced an embarrassing air-shot when faced with a straightforward smash.

From there, there was no way back for the world No.48 as de Minaur raced to victory in an hour and three-quarters to reach the semis of the Austrian indoor hard-court event for the third-straight year.

It all came off the back of, statistically, the equal-best serving display by de Minaur all season, getting in 71% of his first serves, as he actually out-aced the boom-serving Berrettini 5-4.

“That’s been an emphasis as of late, and I do feel like I’ve got in a good rhythm on serve and feel like I’m confident with what I’m doing,” said de Minaur.

“I maybe didn’t serve as well as I would have liked to at the start of the week, but today was a great serving display from me, and you know, hopefully I can keep it going.”

It all helped him become the ninth Australian man to reach the 350 match-win landmark after Lleyton Hewitt (616), John Alexander (591), Rod Laver (576), John Newcombe (568), Ken Rosewall (546), Phil Dent (414), Tony Roche (364) and Pat Rafter (358).

But earlier, Zverev, who recently lost to de Minaur in the Laver Cup and defeated him in Shanghai, gave a glimpse of the searing form which has him set to be enthroned as world No.1 on Monday as he powered through his quarter-final against British Wimbledon hero Arthur Fery, 6-0 6-2, in just under an hour.

“Yeah, 100 per cent, that’s the aim,” said de Minaur, pondering his latest chance to beat Zverev for the first time in an individual, rather than team, tournament.

“That’s the types of matches that you want to be playing, against the best in the world — and right now he’s the best in the world. So I’m excited for that. Another battle.”

If de Minaur beats Zverev, he’ll move back into the eighth and last qualifying spot to reach the ATP Finals for a third-straight year, with only the Paris Masters still to come as a qualifying event before the Turin end-of-season showpiece.

Earlier on Friday (Saturday AEDT), Daniil Medvedev secured his place ‌at the Finals for the seventh ‌time by outplaying French veteran Adrian Mannarino 6-2 6-3, setting up a last-four clash with world No.3 Carlos Alcaraz, who beat American Tommy Paul 6-4 ​7-6 (7-2).