3 minute read

Dominik Koepfer stands between Alex de Minaur and a place in the final of the ATP Tour's Los Cabos Open in Mexico, after the Australian knocked out Tommy Paul.

Alex de Minaur has marched into the semi-finals of the ATP Tour's Los Cabos Open with victory over No.3 seed Tommy Paul of the United States.

De Minaur's 6-4 3-6 6-3 hard-court win in the 250 series event maintained the Australian's 100 per cent record against Paul, stretching it to five wins in five meetings with the world No.14.

It was a rematch of March's Acapulco final, which the Aussie also won in three sets, and the world No.19 is now 8-0 in Mexico this year.

De Minaur overcame a 3-1 deficit in the deciding set on Thursday, winning the final five games to secure the victory.

The 24-year-old recorded 10 winners and 13 unforced errors for the match, predominantly from the baseline, while Paul finished with 28 winners and 17 unforced errors.

As de Minaur continues to fine-tune his preparations for the US Open, which begins at Flushing Meadows on August 28, the fifth seed will face Germany's Dominik Koepfer for a place in the final.

The No.7 seed dispensed with the USA's Aleksandar Kovacevic in straight sets, 6-4 7-5.

Greek top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on Croatia's Borna Coric in the other semi after defeating Chile's Nicolas Jarry in just under three hours, 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.

Now 37-13 for the season, 24-year-old Tsitsipas moved above Andrey Rublev to fourth in the ATP Live Race To Turin as a result of his triumph.

"Sometimes you feel like those kinds of matches are very important for your continuation in a tournament," Tsitsipas, a winner on tour, said.

"You get to play at a high intensity and a very high level, and it kind of brings the best out of you. I hope to move forwards stronger from this point onwards, to learn from this match, and take away as much as I can."

Coric, the fourth seed, scored a 6-3 6-4 win over eighth-seeded Belarusian Ilya Ivashka in the day's last quarter-final.