De Minaur digs deep for opening Vienna win, boosts Turin hopes

Alex de Minaur had to hang tough to overcome Jan-Lennard Struff and book his second-round spot at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The second-seeded Australian shook off a slow start to earn a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 triumph on Tuesday afternoon at the indoor hard-court ATP 500. De Minaur converted four of six break points he earned across the second and third sets, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to seal a one-hour, 42-minute win and advance to face Flavio Cobolli.

De Minaur returned to competitive action for the first time since the US Open last week in Antwerp, where he reached the quarter-finals. His winning start in Vienna is a boost to the 25-year-old’s hopes of securing a Nitto ATP Finals debut this year: De Minaur is currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 265 points shy of Andrey Rublev in eighth.

Demon pulls through ?@alexdeminaur completes the comeback against Struff 2-6 6-2 6-2 in Vienna!#ErsteBankOpen | @ErsteBankOpen | ? e|motion/Bildagentur Zolles KG/Christian Hofer pic.twitter.com/rz1cAeQzfm

Having begun the year with a 2-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Struff, De Minaur has since notched a hat-trick of wins against the big-hitting German, at the Miami Open presented by Itau, Roland Garros and the Erste Bank Open, respectively. The way he battled to victory in Tuesday’s encounter was another example of the extra level that De Minaur has found across the season.

“At the end of the day, there’s no better measurements than results to see your improvement,” De Minaur, who reached his career-high No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings in July, told ATPTour.com. “I’m very happy with the way my level has improved this year and the types of wins I’m getting. Today was another tough one, so I’m very happy.”

Frances Tiafoe also advanced on Tuesday in the Austrian capital. The fifth seed saw off Cameron Norrie 6-4, 7-6(4) to set a second-round showdown with Matteo Berrettini.

A finalist in 2021 in Vienna, Tiafoe let slip a 3-1 lead in the second set against Norrie but went on to hold his nerve in the subsequent tie-break. The American still holds an outside chance of reaching the Nitto ATP Finals, but would likely need deep runs this week in Vienna and at next week’s Rolex Paris Masters in order to claim one of the eight qualification spots.

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