Vienna, 26 October (HIST). Alex de Minaur reached the Vienna Open semi-finals with a 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 win over Jakub Mencic, keeping alive his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. The 25-year-old, who is currently ranked ninth in the ATP Live Race to Turin, battled hard and won in two hours and 34 minutes.
Mencic changed gears first, going into the opening set tie-break. He used aggressive groundstrokes and forced mistakes from the Australian to win the first set 7-6(2). According to ATP data, he hit 24 winners in the first set, including nine aces.
De Minaur responded by earning a crucial break in the sixth game of the second set and leveled the match, winning the set 6–3. The Australian broke Mencic again in the fifth game of the third set and remained in control for the rest of the match.
Despite the loss, Mencic remains on track to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in December. The 19-year-old player is ranked third in the ATP Live Race to Jeddah.
On the other hand, Khachanov defeated Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-4 and extended his winning streak to seven matches.
The 28-year-old, who won the Almaty Open last week, defeated the Italian in an hour and 18 minutes to reach his first semi-final at an ATP 500 tournament in Vienna. With the win, Khachanov recorded his first win in the pair's ATP head-to-head series, with Berrettini leading 4–1.
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