Alex de Minaur’s battle continued at ABN Amro in Rotterdam, as the Australian defeated hometown favorite Botic van de Zandschulp to reach a third successive ATP 500 semi-final.
De Minaur is the first player since Dutch legend Tom Oke in 1976 to reach the semi-finals in Rotterdam three consecutive years. He defeated van der Zande Schulp 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 to set up a semi-final with France’s Ugo Humbert, who defeated Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-1.
It’s a tight game for Friday’s top seed. He was at odds with the 30-year-old world No. 65 for much of the match.
“He is a difficult opponent and he makes things so difficult,” De Minaur said. “In a sense, I think we both made each other play badly. In situations like this where it’s hard to actually play the court, you go through some pretty long face-offs and tough exchanges. I’m glad I got through it; it didn’t look good for about three-quarters of the match, but I’m glad I found some better tennis at the end of the second set.”
It took De Minaur two hours and 44 minutes to overtake the Dutchman, saving all three break points he faced in the second set before eventually winning the match in a tie-break.
Milestones and Historical Facts
- Semi-final winning streak: De Minaur was the first player to arrive Three consecutive semi-finals In Rotterdam since the Dutch legend Tom Oak This was done exactly 50 years ago (1974-1976).
- Face-to-face dominance: With this win, De Minaur progresses to 4-0 During his career he went head-to-head with Botic van de Zandschulp.
- Indoor hard court success: The victory marked De Minaur’s 12th win in last 14 games ATP 500 level.
- Rotterdam Consistency: Since 2024, De Minaur’s record is 11-2 His only losses at this tournament were in the finals to Jannik Sinner (2024) and Carlos Alcaraz (2025).
De Minaur broke serve once in the first four games of the deciding set, eventually locking serve and never faced a break point in the rest of the game. He eventually broke serve at 6-5 before grabbing a second match point to secure his fourth career win in four games against Van der Zande Schulp.
“It’s not easy to feel the ball here,” De Minaur said of the conditions in Rotterdam, which has been criticized by many players for the quality of the ball used. This resulted in an overall slowdown, forcing De Minaur to “win ugly” at times on Friday.
“It’s just about finding ways, adapting and accepting that you’re probably going to make more mistakes than you’d like,” he said. “It’s about me finding better depth and direction — just waiting for the right ball and committing to it.”
Felix Auger-Aliassime will face Talon Grikspur in the third men’s quarterfinal on Friday, with the winner facing either Jaume Munar or Alexander Bublik.
