With a ninth straight match win at the ATP 500 tournament, Alex de Minaur reaches the Acapulco final for a second straight year.
Acapulco, Mexico, 2 March 2024 | Vivienne Christie
Acapulco, Mexico
Alex de Minaur will contest the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco for a second straight year, following a semifinal win over Jack Draper.
The world No.9 Australian advanced with a 6-3 2-6 4-0 victory when the Brit retired with illness after one hour and 45 minutes on court.
“I wish him a speedy recovery. He’s a hell of a player, hell of a talent and I hope it’s nothing too serious and that he’s ready to go for Indian Wells and Miami,” said De Minaur, admitting it was “tough to focus” as Draper appeared to be physically suffering during the second set.
“I just told myself to bring up the intensity and try and get a head start in the third set and make it a little bit harder for him,” added De Minaur, who secured his ninth straight match win at the hard-court tournament.
De Minaur claimed the biggest of his seven ATP singles titles in Acapulco last year, following a semifinal win over Holger Rune and victory against Tommy Paul in the final.
His progress to the 2024 final included a first win in 11 matches against Stefanos Tsitsipas with De Minaur recovering from a 1-6 deficit in a memorable quarterfinal.
De Minaur broke in the fifth game of the match against Draper, with another break of serve securing the 40-minute first set.
While Draper struck first with an early service break in the second set, the Brit was treated for illness after the fifth game. He closed out the set but was clearly struggling when De Minaur took control of the final set.
It secured a second appearance in at ATP final this year for the Australian, with De Minaur finishing runner-up to Jannik Sinner in Rotterdam.
The world No.9 – who has wins over Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov this season – also added to a stellar semifinal record; since the start of 2023, he’s won all six semifinals he’s contested.
De Minaur will face either Rune or Casper Ruud in tomorrow’s final in the Mexican city. He is the first player to secure back-to-back finals appearances in Acapulco since David Ferrer in 2012 and 2013.
Needing to defend his 2023 title to maintain his top-10 ranking, De Minaur admits “there are plenty of things” he can improve in his tennis.
“But as I said from the start of…
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