De Minaur survives scare, reaches Antwerp QFs

pCould a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-de-minaur/dh58/overview'Alex de Minaur/a be set to ignite a late charge to qualify for his maiden appearance at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a?/p

pThe 25-year-old dug deep to survive a scare Wednesday at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/antwerp/7485/overview'European Open/a 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 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a quarter-finals but rallied from a set down to defeat a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roberto-carballes-baena/cf59/overview'Roberto Carballes Baena/a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to book his spot in the last eight./p

pldquo;Itrsquo;s never easy coming back from injury, so I am happy I was able to win today,rdquo; said de Minaur, who has been nursing a hip injury that forced him out of the Asian swing. ldquo;It took a lot of fight and effort, so Irsquo;m happy to get a first win here in Antwerp./p

pldquo;The match is never over until the last point, thatrsquo;s what I always tell myself. Irsquo;m always going to compete until the very end and itrsquo;s helped me win a lot of matches, so I better keep doing it.rdquo;/p

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pDe Minaur is currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 425 points behind eighth-placed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andrey-rublev/re44/overview'Andrey Rublev/a, 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./p

pThe top seed will next face a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/hugo-gaston/g09o/overview'Hugo Gaston/a, who edged a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mariano-navone/n0bs/overview'Mariano Navone/a 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./p

pEarlier, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roberto-bautista-agut/bd06/overview'Roberto Bautista Agut/a produced a steely performance against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tomas-martin-etcheverry/ea24/overview'Tomas Martin Etcheverry/a 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 pairrsquo;s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting./ppThird seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/felix-auger-aliassime/ag37/overview'Felix Auger-Aliassime/a closed the day by rallying past a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marton-fucsovics/f724/overview'Marton Fucsovics/a 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./p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p