Alex de Minaur fought to reach his eighth TBEN final on Tuesday at the Antalya Open. The fourth-seeded Australian recorded his second straight victory over second seed David Goffin of Belgium 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in one hour and 52 minutes.
“I knew it was going to be a tough game, and I would be under pressure on serve,” De Minaur told ATPTour.com. “I had to reset and get back to my game plan and my strengths after losing the second set. I won some tough rallies in the third set and that certainly helped me.”
De Minaur, 21, who won three trophies in 2019 in Sydney, Atlanta and Zhuhai, will take on eighth-seeded Kazakhstani Alexander Bublik for the first time. Bublik beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in the second semi-final.
“Alex can beat any player any day and he’s got a lot of firepower,” De Minaur said. “So I’m going to have to rest and prepare well before the final.”
World number 23 De Minaur immediately broke serve and went through the opening set of 43 minutes, losing just three of his serve points. But No.16-ranked Goffin turned the situation around by winning the first three games of the second set. De Minaur broke for a 3-1 advantage in the decider, but Goffin only responded to lose momentum.
“I didn’t start very well and didn’t serve well at the start,” said Goffin. “From 0-2, I only lost my serve 1-2 in the third set. It was much better and I was playing well – more offensive. There were long points in the third set and it changed his path. I’m happy to have played four matches this week. I was nervous at the start of the tournament so it’s very positive and my attitude has been good.
Goffin, who works with new coach Germain Gigounon, wanted to qualify for his first TBEN final since August 2019 at the Western & Southern Open. He saved five match points to beat his doubles partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round of the Antalya Open on Thursday last week.
