Alex de Minaur survived a deciding tiebreak against Alexander Zverev and now meets Carlos Alcaraz for the Vienna Open title.
Alex de Minaur has put together one of the biggest wins of his career. He beat Alexander Zverev 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4) in the Vienna Open semi-final, and he did it by attacking from the first ball to the last.
Zverev was billed as the incoming world No 1, and the Australian never played like an underdog. The world No 10 took the opening set, then lost the second in a one-sided blowout. He regrouped quickly and carried his aggression into a decider at the Wiener Stadthalle.
The tiebreak was the defining stretch. De Minaur dropped a couple of double faults, the kind of errors that can rattle a player in a high-pressure moment. He shook them off, kept swinging and kept Zverev under pressure until the 7-4 finish.
The result sets up a title match against Carlos Alcaraz. De Minaur now has the momentum, and a statement win over a top-ranked opponent, going into one of the toughest finals on the calendar.
