Alex de Minaur is a step closer to reaching the Rotterdam Open final following a comfortable straight-sets win over Daniel Altmaier.
Third seed de Minaur defeated German “lucky loser” Altmaier 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals where he will face Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci.
Bellucci won through after beating sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2.
It was Bellucci’s second successive upset win after he ended Daniil Medvedev’s tournament in the round of 16.
“He’s having his breakout tournament,” de Minaur said of Bellucci.
“Beating Medvedev is a very, very tough task on any court and he’s playing with a lot of confidence.”
De Minaur, ranked eighth in the world, has yet to drop a set in Rotterdam.
Although he lost a service game in the second set, he broke world number 93 Altmaier four times across the match.
“I’m happy I managed to get up for it and play some good tennis and dig very deep when I needed to,” de Minaur said.
Should de Minaur triumph in his semifinal, the Australian could face top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the tournament decider.
Alcaraz, a four-time major winner, defeated fellow Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
The victor will meet either fourth seed Andrey Rublev or eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz in the last four.
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