Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1 March 2021 | Vivienne Christie
Several weeks ago, Alex de Minaur and John Millman were united for Team Australia at the ATP Cup – this week, the top two Australian men will face off at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam.
De Minaur and Millman, ranked world No.23 and world No.39 respectively, are first-round opponents at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in the Netherlands.
It will be among the many all-Australian encounters that have already played out this season.
At the Murray River Open last month, Alex Bolt eliminated fellow South Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in a tight first round. Harry Bourchier overcame Marc Polmans in their opener, before falling to Nick Kyrgios.
At Australian Open 2021, Sam Stosur defeated Destanee Aiava in the opening round and Ash Barty won a second-round battle with countrywoman Daria Gavrilova.
Lizette Cabrera overcame Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round of the Phillip Island Trophy, with Olivia Gadecki progressing at the expense of Aiava.
Maddison Inglis edged past Stosur in last week’s Adelaide International and Storm Sanders was a first-round winner over Tomljanovic.
And at the Singapore Tennis Open last week, Matt Ebden defeated Millman in the second round before exiting to eventual champion Alexei Popyrin in an all-Australian quarterfinal.
A first ATP Tour semifinal for @AlexeiPopyrin99! 🙌
He survives a tough all-Aussie encounter with Matt Ebden to progress in Singapore. #GoAussies https://t.co/OuZLOYL5nt
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) February 26, 2021
This week, the 22-year-old De Minaur will be aiming to continue a winning record against Millman, having triumphed against the 31-year-old in their only other tour-level meeting at Zhuhai in 2019.
The winner between De Minaur and Millman will face either Kei Nishikori or No.7 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round, with top seed Daniil Medvedev a potential quarterfinal opponent.
While ATP and WTA tournaments are also underway in Qatar, Lyon and Argentina this week, De Minaur and Millman are the only two Australians in action.
Aussies in action this week:
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Men’s singles, first round
Alex de Minaur (AUS) v John Millman (AUS)
