Match Report
De Minaur survives scare, reaches Antwerp QFs
Auger-Aliassime, Bautista Agut move on at ATP 250 hard-court event
October 16, 2024
BelgaImage
Alex de Minaur advances to the quarter-finals at the European Open in Antwerp.
By ATP Staff
Could Alex de Minaur be set to ignite a late charge to qualify for his maiden appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals?
The 25-year-old dug deep to survive a scare Wednesday at the European Open in Antwerp to claim a victory upon return to tour-level action. De Minaur got off to a sluggish start in his first match since the US Open quarter-finals but rallied from a set down to defeat Roberto Carballes Baena 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to book his spot in the last eight.
“It’s never easy coming back from injury, so I am happy I was able to win today,” said de Minaur, who has been nursing a hip injury that forced him out of the Asian swing. “It took a lot of fight and effort, so I’m happy to get a first win here in Antwerp.
“The match is never over until the last point, that’s what I always tell myself. I’m always going to compete until the very end and it’s helped me win a lot of matches, so I better keep doing it.”
De Minaur is currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 425 points behind eighth-placed Andrey Rublev, who is in action Thursday in Stockholm. The Australian, who reached the 2020 final in Antwerp, began to find his rhythm in the second set, during which he won 83 per cent (10/12) of points behind his first serve, but ultimately clicked into gear in a gruelling deciding set, prevailing in two hours, 18 minutes.
The top seed will next face Hugo Gaston, who edged Mariano Navone in a thrilling second-round clash. The Frenchman held his nerve to earn a 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(4) triumph in two hours, 50 minutes.
Earlier, Roberto Bautista Agut produced a steely performance against Tomas Martin Etcheverry to become the oldest quarter-finalist in Antwerp tournament history. The 36-year-old Spaniard claimed a commanding 7-6(2), 6-4 win in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.
Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime closed the day by rallying past Marton Fucsovics 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2. The Canadian often applied pressure on Fucsovics’ serve and created 13 break chances, converting three of them, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Auger-Aliassime broke for the first time at 3-3 in the second set and built upon his momentum to improve to 3-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Fucsovics.
