- The Greek was knocked out of the AMT 2024 after the current Australian champion came from behind in three sets.
Acapulco February 29, 2024.- The match that opened the fourth day on the court of the GNP Seguros Arena Stadium was one between two rivals that could easily have starred in the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC. The 2023 champion, Alex de Miñaur (No. 9) and third seed, came from behind to beat fifth seed Stefanos Tsistipas (No.11) in three sets 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and six minutes.
Although the Australian began by breaking the Greek’s serve in the first game, Tsitsipas was dominant from that moment on and broke him in the second, fourth and sixth games to take the first set in 28 minutes in his favor. However, the champion confirmed that the conditions in Acapulco are favorable for his game and has had a considerable evolution since he was eliminated in the first round of the Los Cabos Open.
It was the 25-year-old’s first win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, who boasted a dominant 10-0 record prior to this match. With his victory, the new member of the world Top 10 becomes the first champion to reach the semifinals of the AMT looking to defend his title since David Ferrer in 2013. He also reaches the top four of an ATP tournament for the 23rd time in his career.
“Today was a very good victory, obviously with an opponent who had never beaten him before, so it’s one of those victories that you enjoy a lot. It is normal that the people of Acapulco support Stefanos, he is a great player who has been here for many years, it is normal, now that he is not here I hope they support me,” he said after his victory.
He also added “Tennis wise I am not feeling the most comfortable, but what I will always do is to fight until the end. I go day by day. I hope to find my best tennis at the end of the week, now there are several who are playing at a very high level in Acapulco and now [I will] prepare for another battle, [with] a lot of desire,” he said.
The Greek, meanwhile, scored another five aces in the match, for a total of 15 that will be converted into a 15 thousand dollar donation to support the reconstruction of Acapulco.
At the same time on the Grandstand, Jack Draper (No.50) and Miomir Kecmanovic (No.53) were vying for a ticket for the biggest win of their respective careers to the best four of the ATP 500 in Acapulco. The balance was in favor of the Briton 2-1, with a memorable match last month in Adelaide of 3 hours 40 minutes, and this time in Acapulco he increased his advantage against the Serbian who he defeated in 1 hour 21 minutes 6-2, 6-2 with five aces and 88% of points won with his first serve.
The Briton will now have a tough challenge against the champion, but he assured that he will enjoy his first semifinal at this level, as he had previously only reached four in 250 tournaments “I feel great, I feel like it was coming, I made two finals in 250, I feel like I’m progressing as a tennis player all the time, always improving and I think I can go further. Here I’ve really tried to focus on my practice and its quality and that has shown in my games so I’m very happy with the way I’m playing,” he said.
“These players know who I am, I’ve been injured a lot, played a lot. With Alex I have had strong battles before and it will be tough, I will always want to win the match, I never want to play freely, I want to compete to win and tomorrow it will be the same” concluded after his victory the 22 year old.
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