De Minaur Reaches Fourth Consecutive Rotterdam Quarterfinal

Alex de Minaur
Alex de Minaur (photo: ATP Tour video)

ROTTERDAM/WASHINGTON, February 6, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Alex de Minaur has been nothing if not consistent in his approach to the game of tennis. Last year’s finalist at the ATP 500 ABN Amro Open, the World No. 8 from Australia joined Roger Federer as the only players to reach the Rotterdam quarterfinals in four consecutive years by denying 19-year-old Jakub Mensik to be the youngest quarterfinalist in the Dutch port city since Jannik Sinner in 2020.

Thursday afternoon on Centre Court at Rotterdam Ahoy Arena, the third-seeded de Minaur maintained the upper hand against the Czechian rising star and won 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the last eight. It was his 31st ATP 500 win since the start of the 2023 season – second-most behind Sinner’s 32.

De Minaur was efficient in striking 16 winners – 12 of them from the forehand side – while pressuring Mensik into committing 43 unforced errors. He controlled play from the baseline and was effective at the net, too. The Sydneysider converted two of eight break points – including one in the second set to go ahead 5-4 – and faced no break points on his serve. He outpointed his opponent 74-54 to improve his head-to-head to 2-0 against Mensik, and his 2025 win-loss record to 9-1. Had Mensik won, it would have been the sixth Top-10 win in his career for the Czech teenager.

“It’s never easy playing Jakub, he’s one of the best servers on Tour,” de Minaur said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “He manages to get a lot of free points and at times it’s quite frustrating. One of the key things for me in this sort of matchup is to try to be calm and tell myself that I’m going to give myself chances on return, worry about my service games, and if I apply enough pressure on his service games, to get the crucial break. …

“As soon as I walk on court I get those competitive juices, and I know that no matter if I’m feeling 100 per cent or a bit sick, I know that I am going to do everything I can to win, and that’s just part of my DNA.”

Next, de Minaur will play 93rd-ranked lucky loser Daniel Altmaier of Germany, who upset No. 7 seed Arthur Fils of France, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, in two hours and 26 minutes on Court 1, winning on his sixth match-point opportunity. Altmaier, who faced Fils four times last year, evened his head-to-head with the 19th-ranked Frenchman at 3-all.

Altmaier hit 23 winners, which overcame 32 unforced errors. He pressured Fils into committing 52 unforced errors but also allowed 37 winners from the young French star. The German converted four of 13 break points and outpointed Fils 102-100.

Tsitsipas holds off Griekspoor in three-set thriller

No. 6 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece reached his 80th career ATP Tour-level quarterfinal – and first since last November’s Master 1000 in Paris – with his dramatic 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 7-5 victory over home hero No. 43 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, the last Dutch player in the draw. The two-hour, 59-minute thriller on Centre Court was the first Top-50 win for Tsitsipas this year. He improved his win-loss record to 3-2.

The World No. 12 Tsitsipas, who is now 17-2 versus players ranked outside the Top 20 indoors since 2023, fired 54 winners to overcome 42 unforced errors, compared to 41 winners and 35 unforced errors for Griekspoor. Tsitsipas won 80 percent of his first-serve points, converted three of nine break points and saved three of five. He outpointed Griekspoor 128-119.

After saving a match point down 6-5 during the second-set tie break, Tsitsipas went on to garner victory on his second match-point opportunity with a third-shot forehand winner.

“I’m super glad how things turned around and with the way I delivered at the end,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview with ATP Media. “It was a very physical match. I felt like we were battling it out for many hours, I don’t know how many hours. … It felt like it wasn’t meant to stop but I put a stop to it towards the end. There were crucial moments that had to be handled correctly, and I did so. I also have to give credit to Tallon because he didn’t seem to be giving up at any point. It’s not easy when you’re match point up and find yourself losing that set. We put out a great competition, both of us, and showed an incredible level of tennis.”

Next, Tsitsipas will face 92nd-ranked qualifier Mattia Bellucci of Italy, who stunned World No. 7 and second seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in three sets Wednesday evening.

Around the Rotterdam Ahoy

• Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain easily defeated 317th-ranked qualifier Andrea Vavassori of Italy, 6-2, 6-2 in 63 minutes on Centre Court Thursday evening. It was the Spaniard’s second win over Vavassori after beating him in their Buenos Aires quarterfinal last year. Alcaraz continued his campaign to become the first Spanish champion at Rotterdam and to win his first ATP Tour indoor title.

Simply too strong and with too much game, Alcaraz overwhelmed Vavassori, one of the elite doubles players in the world, with a balanced attack on both offense and defense. He hit 17 winners, made just 13 unforced errors, saved the only break point he faced in the opening set and broke Vavassori’s serve five times in eight opportunities. Alcaraz outpointed his opponent 61-34.

Alcaraz dazzled the fans attending with an entertaining, behind-the-back shot followed by a backhand winner in the second game of the match. “It comes naturally in the moment,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview with ATP Media. “Sometimes, I mean, but you cannot practice [the shot]. It’s improvised a little bit.

“Getting the win is really important but I’m also here to make people happy. I think they enjoy watching my matches.”

In Friday’s quarterfinal round, Alcaraz will face No. 44 Pedro Martinez of Spain, who eased past  No. 5 seed Holger Rune of Denmark, 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 23 minutes on Centre Court Thursday evening.

Martinez converted four of eight break points and outpointed Rune 64-43 to reach his 15 ATP Tour quarterfinal overall and four above the ATP 250 level. It was his first Top-20 win on a hard-court surface after going 0-12.

• No. 4 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, the 2021 champion and the only former Rotterdam champ remaining in the draw, defeated No. 57 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7), in an hour and 45 minutes on Centre Court.

Marozsan, who defeated the World No. 10 earlier this season in Hong Kong, saved a couple of match points during a second-set tie break. However, Rublev, who rallied from down 2-4 in the tie-break, prevailed to become just the seventh man to reach six Rotterdam quarterfinals in the tournament’s 52-year history. He struck 29 winners – including 10 aces – won 74 percent of his first-serve points, converted two of three break points and outpointed Marozsan 82-75.

Asked during his on-court interview by ATP Media how he managed to mount a comeback in the second set, Rublev explained: “I don’t know to be honest. I started to get a bit frustrated, but I was able to shut it down during the tie-break. I was able to calm myself down and I think that’s why I was able to come back. I was reminding myself to be calm and to fight. …

“In Hong Kong, it was my first match of the year, I was too tight, and Fabian played really well in the important moments. He was playing much better than me. I knew that today was going to be different, because I am more confident in myself. I was able to be there, just fighting, and in the end I was able to win.”

In Friday’s quarterfinal round, Rublev will face No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland. Hurkacz advanced by retirement over No. 24 Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, ahead 7-5, 2-0, on Wednesday night.

• British duo Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool advanced to the semifinal round with a 6-3, 6-4 upset of No. 2 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in an hour and eight minutes on Court 1. The winners combined for five aces, won 77 percent of their first-serve points, saved both break points they faces while breaking the German pair twice in five attempts and outpointed their opponents 58-49.

Next, Cash and Glasspool will face either Germany’s Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner or No. 3 seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy, who play Friday.

• Also advancing to the doubles quarterfinals are Sander Gille of Belgium and Jan Zielinski of Poland, who upset No. 4 seeds Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Michael Venus of New Zealand, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), in an hour and 39 minutes on Court 1. The Belgian/Polish duo won 81 percent of their service points and outpointed their opponents 77-69.

Next, Gille and Zielinski will oppose either No. 1 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia or Hugo Nys of Monaco and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, who play Friday.

Thursday’s Rotterdam results

Friday’s Rotterdam order of play

By the numbers

Roger Federer holds the Rotterdam record for most quarterfinal appearances with 9. Next closest is a six-way tie with 6 each held by Tomas Berdych, Tim Henman, Anders Jarryd, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Gaël Monfils and Andrey Rublev.

“Quotable …”

“Today, I definitely took a little bit of speed off [my serve] and focused more on percentage. That was key today. I didn’t want to give him too many looks on second serves where he could really be aggressive and try to dictate from the very start. I’m glad I executed that and that the game plan worked really well.”

– World No. 8 and third seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, during his on-court interview with ATP Media, commenting on the success of his service games in defeating Jakub Mensik of Czechia.

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