Alex de Minaur is moving confidently towards winning his first ATP claycourt title in Germany, just days before he's due to launch his French Open bid at Roland Garros.
The Australian No.1 has found some hugely encouraging form with the Paris Grand Slam only three days away as he powered into the semifinal at the Hamburg Open on Thursday with an emphatic victory over one of the tour's form horses, Luciano Darderi.
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Darderi reached the semifinals at his home event in Rome last week and has moved up to a career-high ranking of No.16, but cut a frustrated figure as De Minaur ran him ragged, winning 6-0 6-3 at the Rothenbaum Stadium.
It marked his third straight win at the 500-level event, after earlier surviving three-set battles against quality claycourters Francisco Cerundolo and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Darderi seemed distracted from the start, appearing to be unhappy with the court quality, but De Minaur was locked in as he 'bagelled' the Italian in the opening stanza, and reduced him to smashing his racquet into the clay when he failed to convert a break point in the second act.
But despite the scoreline, it wasn't exactly a breeze for the world No.9 as Darderi fought tigerishly when on the brink of defeat at 5-1 down in the second. Altogether, the Australian had to save 11 of 12 break points and had some difficulty subduing the Italian, who fought back to make it 5-3.
But after firing home his 31st winner at the end of an astonishing lung-busting 27-stroke rally at match point, 'Demon' sealed his victory in an hour and 34 minutes to set up a semifinal against American Tommy Paul, the world No.26, on Friday (Saturday AEST).
"The last 20 or 30 minutes of this match, they [the conditions] couldn't have been any slower and any heavier," he reflected.
"It was very physical, very tough to get the ball past him and I thought he was able to use his strength to move the ball around a bit better. So it got quite tight at the end but overall, I'm very happy."
De Minaur's run after coming into Hamburg on a three-match losing streak is a real confidence-booster, as he closes in on his first claycourt final on Saturday.
Friday's other semifinal in Hamburg will be between US lucky loser, world No.94 Aleksandar Kovacevic, and top Peruvian, world No.57 Ignacio Buse, leaving De Minaur as the highest-ranked player left of the quartet.
Earlier on Thursday in the Geneva Open, Alexei Popyrin's bid to make the semis was ended by in-form Casper Ruud in a 6-4 6-3 defeat. The Norwegian is homing in on a record-extending fourth title at the Swiss event.
In Strasbourg, Daria Kasatkina exited at the quarterfinal stage following a three-set defeat to dangerous claycourter Jaqueline Cristian.
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