Defending Champion Alex de Minaur Advances to Mexican Open Final

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Alex de Minaur is heading back to the Mexican Open final…

The 25-year-old Spanish & Uruguayan Australian tennis player, the tournament’s defending champion, advanced to the final when Jack Draper retired in the third set on Friday.

The third-seeded de Minaur won the first set 6-3, dropped the second 6-2 and was leading 4-0 in the third when Draper, who was visibly diminished physically, called it quits.

de Minaur will face Casper Ruud, who pulled off an upset by beating second-seeded Holger Rune 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the late match.

“I’m happy to be in the final, but I´m hoping that Jack is doing fine. He has a tremendous talent, and hopefully he can recover for the upcoming tournaments,” de Minaur said. “It’s hard to play when your opponent is not OK physically, but you need to remain focused.”

de Minaur won his ninth straight match in Mexico and became the first defending champion to reach the Acapulco final since David Ferrer in 2013.

de Minaur has seven career ATP titles, with last year at Acapulco his most recent.

Draper, from England, was playing in his first semifinal of an ATP 500 tournament.

In the other semifinal, Ruud lost the first set and then was down 3-1 in the third with Rune serving, but he managed a couple of breaks and held his serve to take the win.

“I did not get the best start, and the third set looked really bad. I just tried to stay in there and it seemed like Holger was struggling, and at the end it worked for me,” Ruud said.

Ruud will try to win his 10th career title, the first one in an ATP 500.

Rune, who is No. 7 in the ATP rankings, lost in the Acapulco semifinals for the second year in a row.

Alex de Minaur Outlasts Stefanos Tsitsipas to Advance to Mexican Open Semifinals

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Alex de Minaur is celebrating a hard-fought win at the Mexican Open.

The 25-year-old Spanish & Uruguayan Australian tennis player, the defending champion, rallied past Stefanos Tsitsipas 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday to book a second straight spot in the semifinals of the Mexican Open.

de Minaur, the ATP’s ninth-ranked player, struggled in the first set and lost it in 28 minutes but rallied in the next two to get the win in 2 hours, 6 minutes.

“It was a tough match. It was not very spectacular because the wind made it hard for both of us,” said de Minaur, who broke a 10-match losing streak to the No. 12 Tsitsipas. “My first win against Tsitsipas was meant to be in Acapulco, a place of great memories.”

In the semifinals, the third-seeded De Minaur will meet Jack Draper, who ousted Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-2.

de Minaur has won eight matches in a row in Mexico and became the first defending champion in Acapulco to reach the semifinals the following year since David Ferrer in 2013.

Tsitsipas was aiming for his third semifinal in Acapulco.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry Defeats Yoshihito Nishioka to Reach First-Ever Grand Slam Quarterfinal Round at French Open

Posted on June 5, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Tomas Martin Etcheverry’s dream run at the French Open continues…

The 23-year-old Argentinian tennis player moved into the last eight at Roland Garros after defeating Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, the No 27 seed, 7-6 (8), 6-0, 6-1 in Paris on Monday evening.

Etcheverry, ranked No 49, is the big surprise of all quarterfinalists in the field. In fact, this will be his first-ever appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

He took the best spot in the lower part of the draw opened by Daniil Medvedev’s early loss.

He’ll next play Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the No 22 seed.

“I just can’t believe it, it’s a dream come true”, said Etcheverry in his on-court interview. “It’s important to share this moment with my family and with the crowd. I will recover tonight and be ready for the next battle”

Etcheverry, who was a runner-up early this year in Santiago and Houston, has defeated three seeds on his road to the quarters.

He beat Jack Draper (6-4, 1-0 ret.), Alex De Minaur, the No 18 seed (6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3) and Borna Coric, the No 15 seed (6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-2) before Nishioka.\

Nishioka, ranked No 33, probably paid his time spent on the court. He had to call for the physio during the third set after three five-sets battles during the previous rounds against J.J. Wolf (1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3), Max Purcell (4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4) and Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild (3-6, 7-6 (8), 2-6, 6-4, 6-0).

Tomas Martin Etcheverry Upsets Borna Coric to Reach Fourth Round at French Open

Posted on June 3, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Tomas Martin Etcheverry continues his winning ways…

The 23-year-old Argentinian tennis player continued his best-ever Grand Slam event as he upset Croatia’s Borna Coric, the No 15 seed, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-2 to reach the last 16 of the French Open at Stade Roland-Garros in Paris on Saturday.

Etcheverry, ranked No 49, will play Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, the No 27 seed, next.

Until this year, Etcheverry had never even won a Grand Slam match but after progressing when Jack Draper got injured (6-4, 1-0) he followed up his win over Australian Alex De Minaur, the No 18 seed (6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3) with another fine victory.

The second set proved crucial as Etcheverry doubled his lead and Coric, who was appearing in the third round for the first time since 2019, could not find an answer.

Coric, ranked No 16, beat Argentinian Federico Coria (7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3) and Argentinian Pedro Cachin (6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4) earlier in the tournament.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry Advances to Third Round at French Open

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Tomas Martin Etcheverry is celebrating his best Grand Slam performance to date…

The 23-year-old Argentine professional tennis player has advanced to the third round at the French Open after defeating Alex De Minaur, the No 18 seed, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 at Roland Garros on Thursday.

Etcheverry, ranked No 49 in the world, will next play Borna Coric, the No 15 seed.

He benefited from the abandonment of Jack Draper (6-4, 1-0) in the previous round.

In the first round, De Minaur, ranked No 19, beat Belarusian Ilya Ivashka (6-1, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3).

Etcheverry had previously reached the second round at this year’s Australian Open.

Alex de Minaur Stuns Daniil Medvedev in Second Round of Paris Masters

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Alex de Minaur has pulled off a Masters-ful upset…

The 23-year-old Uruguayan/Spanish Australian tennis player stunned fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in the second round of the Paris Masters.

It was de Minaur’s first time beating Medvedev in five meetings.

After rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the final set, de Minaur failed to convert his first two match points at 5-4. He hit a return out on the first match point and made an unforced error on the second.

But he player got two more chances at 6-5. Medvedev saved the third match point with a service winner before double-faulting on the fourth and angrily throwing his racket to the ground.

“I’m glad I played a very tactical match,” de Minaur told Tennis Channel. “I just tried to wait for my right ball and just back myself and back my volley. It’s something that I tried to implement a lot more. I don’t do it as often as I would like, but I’ve got some decent volleys.”

Medvedev, who won the Paris Masters in 2020 and was runner-up last year, dropped serve in the first set by overhitting a smash in the final game. But the Russian player capitalized on unforced errors by de Minaur to break twice in the second set.

de Minaur will next face Frances Tiafoe, who beat Jack Draper 6-3, 7-5.

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