Alex de Minaur reached the funnel of the ATP Rotterdam event on Saturday as he shut down the upset run of Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-1, 6-2.
The short-sharp shock took just 67 minutes to deliver, with the world No. 8 setting up a Sunday title showdown with Carlos Alcaraz.
De Minaur, seeded third at the Ahoy arena, was pleased to advance after overcoming the on-fire Italian who had defeated seeds Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas in upsets this week.
“I knew going in it was going to be a battle and he was going to play loose, the way he has all week long,” the Australian said.
“I had to do my best to stay with him early and see if I could get my chances early.
“It became a little bit more of an uphill battle for him, but he has a very, very bright future ahead, as well as so many more Italians.”
The winner broke four times and never faced a break point as he reached the final without the loss of a set all week in the Netherlands.
The Aussie will be hoping to follow on from his demolition of his 92nd-ranked opponent after losing the final here a year ago to Jannik Sinner, the double Australian Open champion who withdrew from Rotterdam due to fatigue after his Grand Slam success.
De Minaur posted his 11th match win of the season to improve to 13-4 at the Dutch tournament; he is on track to reach sixth in the rankings on Monday.
Main photo:- Alex de Minaur celebrates win in Rotterdam – by ATPTour.com
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