De Minaur wins Dutch grasscourt title to hit a new high ahead of Wimbledon

Alex de Minaur has started his grasscourt season in style, capturing his ninth ATP title ahead of Wimbledon and catapulting to a career-high world ranking of No.7.

Fresh from upsetting Daniil Medvedev on his way to the Roland-Garros quarter-finals, de Minaur wasted no time switching from the clay to his more preferred grass at the Libema Open in the Dutch city of ’s-Hertogenbosch.

The results were spectacular, with the in-form Australian capping another impressive week with a 6-2, 6-4 final defeat of American talent Seb Korda, the son of 1998 Australian Open champion Petr and brother of star golfers Nelly and Jessica.

De Minaur clinched the title on his fourth championship point, two games after his first two opportunities, having also failed to serve the match out a game earlier – and with rain starting to tumble.

A relieved de Minaur said he was thrilled to win his maiden grasscourt title, only weeks out from Wimbledon, where he will be one of the favourites to make a deep run.

“Obviously, it was a great match, [with] tricky conditions,” he said.

“Seb is a hell of a player, and I’m looking forward to playing doubles with him next week at Queen’s. I’m super happy with the win, it’s been great, and happy days.

“It achieves a new career high for me, so that’s always a great little bonus and [my] first week on grass couldn’t have gone any better, so I’m looking forward to next week in Queen’s, and the whole grasscourt season with a smile on my face.

“I’m glad I was able to get a win here in Holland.”

De Minaur did not drop a set all tournament, with Milos Raonic and Ugo Humbert among his other high-quality scalps.

His aggressive mindset repeatedly placed Korda under pressure, while he terrorised the exasperated American with his stout defence and a series of lobs that Lleyton Hewitt would have been proud of.

De Minaur’s Roland-Garros performance propelled him back inside the top 10 to No.9, but the ’s-Hertogenbosch title will see him leapfrog Hubert Hurkacz and Casper Ruud to climb another two spots.

To put that into perspective, dual grand slam finalist Mark Philippoussis’ best ranking was No.8, with only Hewitt and Pat Rafter ranked higher than him among Australians on the men’s side this century.

Alex de Minaur has started the grasscourt season in style after a run to the quarter-finals at the French Open (pictured).

De Minaur will need another strong week at the Queen’s Club Championships to remain at his new ranking, given he lost the final to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz last year, but he is in a great position to earn a top-eight seeding at Wimbledon, which starts on July 1.

He is making a habit of going deep at almost every tournament he plays, with this success following back-to-back triumphs at Acapulco in February.

De Minaur also reached the final in Rotterdam and the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo in what is shaping as a statement year on tour. He is ranked sixth in the Race to Turin, where the eight best-performed men will compete in the end-of-year Tour Finals.

The Sydneysider seemed headed for an even earlier finish when he stormed to a set and 2-0 lead on the back of six consecutive games before Korda broke him back against the flow to threaten to make a contest of the final.

But the sweet-striking Korda struggled in most of his service games and that proved his downfall against de Minaur, one of the tour’s great returners.

The world No.26 dropped serve five times and won only 55 per cent of first-serve points, and twice had to stave off championship points at 5-2 down in the second set.

Korda hung on and continued to fight, with a thunderous forehand stopping de Minaur from serving the match out and presenting him the chance to tie the second set at five-all.

He took a medical time-out for a blister then won his first point back on court with a ’tweener, but he was soon in trouble again – and this time de Minaur converted his opportunity.

De Minaur is the No.2 seed behind Alcaraz at Queen’s, with Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti his first-round foe. Countryman Jordan Thompson faces No.7 seed Holger Rune in his opener.

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