Alex de Minaur came from a set down to beat Andrey Rublev 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the China Open quarter-finals in Beijing on Sunday 4 October, setting up a semi-final against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
The fifth seed won in exactly two hours after being comprehensively outplayed in the opening set, the ABC reported. It was another escape in Beijing for the 27-year-old, who needed three sets to beat French qualifier Quentin Halys 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in the previous round.
How de Minaur turned it around
World No.24 Rublev broke de Minaur in his first service game on the way to a 3-0 lead, broke again for 5-1 and held to 15 to take the first set.
De Minaur pressured Rublev’s serve straight away in the second set, broke in the fourth game and held for 4-1, then broke again from deuce in the eighth game to level the match. He saved a break point early in the decider and broke for 2-0, Rublev hit straight back for 2-2, but the Australian broke again in the eighth game and served out the match to love.
He converted four of his 11 break points and saved nine of the 12 he faced, according to Tennis.com‘s match statistics.
Hurkacz next in the semi-finals
De Minaur’s semi-final opponent is world No.39 Hubert Hurkacz, who beat Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. De Minaur leads their head-to-head 3-1, per the ABC.
The other semi-final is between third seed Daniil Medvedev and sixth seed Novak Djokovic. Medvedev beat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, and Djokovic came from a set down to beat top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
beIN Sports reported the run equals de Minaur’s semi-final finish in Beijing a year ago and lifts him four places to ninth in the ATP rankings, with the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin in view.
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