World number 18 and top seed Alex De Minaur cruised past Casper Ruud 4-1 4-0 4-2 to secure his spot in the semifinals at the Next Gen ATP Finals at the Allianz Cloud in Milan.
The Sydney native player has reached the semifinals undefeated for the second consecutive edition of the Next Gen Finals in Milan. The Aussie has scored the seventh win of his career in Milan breaking the record of match victories at this event held by 2017 finalist Andrey Rublev.
Ruud won the opening game of the match, but De Minaur reeled off nine consecutive games with breaks in the third and fifth games of the first set and in the second and fourth games of the second set.
Ruud saved two break points in the fourth game of the third set, but De Minaur broke serve in the sixth game with a backhand winner on the match point to close out the third set 4-2.
De Minaur won three titles in his home city Sydney, Atlanta and Zhuhai and finished runner-up to Roger Federer in Basel.
“I knew from playing Casper before that he would dictate any short ball without a purpose. The game plan was to play on my own terms, play aggressively, play different styles of tennis. The goal I had was to take any half-chance, go up and back myself at the net. I am gladi t worked out today. I am looking forward to the semifinals”, said De Minaur.
De Minaur has enjoyed the format of the Milan tournament so far.
“The conditions make it a bit tougher in the sense that things can change direction really quickly, so I feel like you have got to be constantly focused. That’s something that helps me in a way, to stay in the moment. A lot of work has been done for me to achieve that, but it’s a work in progress and I am happy to be through to the semifinals”, reflected De Minaur.
De Minaur thinks that there are some rules of this innovative format that he would like to take into other ATP Tour events next year.
“There are a lot of different things that obviously I really like. The Hawk-Eye live, you know, I think you don’t take away any sort of problem on the court. You believe Hawk-Eye. So it’s called out, it’s out. If it’s a close call, they show you the replay. No more troubles. You don’t have bad calls. If you don’t challenge and you should have challenged, then you realize you end up losing the point. But obviously sort of the instant replay. That helps a lot, as well. If you don’t challenge and you should have challenged, then you end up losing the point. But obviously sort of the instant replay, that helps a lot, as well. There is a couple of things that I do like here.”.
The Next Gen Finals have been a chance to know the other players better and have new friends on the circuit.
“I don’t think I have ever had much to do with Jannik Sinner. After this week, I have been able to hit with him, and things like this that otherwise probably don’t happen in other tournaments. There is a lot of a lot more going on, a lot more players. But here it’s just eight of us. We are bound to get to know each other a bit better, so I enjoy that aspect for sure”, said De Minaur.
