Alex De Minaur scores his second round robin group win in Milan Next Gen ATP Finals - UBITENNIS

Alex De Minaur scores his second round robin group win in Milan Next Gen ATP Finals

By sampaolo
3 Min Read

Australia’s Alex De Minaur edged past Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 4-1 4-3 (7-4) 1-4 4-0 in the second afternoon match at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan to extend his lead in the round robin Group A with a 2-0 record.

De Minaur, who lost the final at this event against Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018, started the match with an early break in the opening game after a long baseline exchange and sealed the first set 4-1 with a double break.

Kecmanovic broke De Minaur in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead. De Minaur broke back with a forehand winner on the deciding point, to force a the tie-break, as Kecmanovic was serving for the second set at 3-2. De Minaur raced out to a 6-3 lead in the tie-break and closed out the set 7-4 on his second set point.

Kecmanovic bounced back by breaking serve in the fourth game of the third set to take a 3-1 lead with a backhand volley winner. The Serbian player held his serve on the deciding point in the fifth game to close out the set 4-1.

De Minaur dropped just five points and broke twice in a row in the second and fourth games to win the fourth set 4-0. The Sydney-native player hit 23 winners to 11 unforced errors.

“This is what you expect in these conditions. A match can turn quickly. I didn’t play badly, but he just played well in the important moments. The new format is obviouly different to everything that we play throughout the whole year. There are aspects of it that obviously all of the new quirks, it makes it better for the spectator. There is stuff I like, there is stuff I don’t like. It’s about adapting to circumstances. It’s just another tennis match for me, different conditions, but something you hav egot to get used to. I feel like with the shorter format, as they said, there are more crucial points. Anything can happen. We have seen that with a lot of sudden-death points that can completely change a match”, said De Minaur.

Leave a comment