Alex de Minaur beats Holger Rune in Mexican Open semi-final, will face Tommy Paul after American outlasts Taylor Fritz

Alex de Minaur and Tommy Paul will meet in the 2023 Mexican Open, but neither earned their place the easy way after dramatic semi-final victories. For the Australian De Minaur, it took nearly three hours to overcome Danish world No. 9 Holger Rune 3-6 7-5 6-2.

Ad While the teenager dominated in the early stages, sweeping through the first set, his opponent showed tenacity by gradually clawing his way back into the match. Australian Open'How has he not been thrown out?!' — Djokovic rises above hecklers during victory23/01/2023 AT 13:22 A physical battle that lasted into the early hours of Saturday morning local time in Acapulco, it was a match that sapped the energy of the young Rune who suffered from cramps throughout the decisive third set. After the seesawing match, De Minaur appeared confident.

He said: «It feels great. It feels like I deserved it. I hung in there, I stayed tough.

It's not easy because he's a hell of a player. He was hitting me off the court at times and not letting me really do much. But I managed to save a couple of crucial break points and keep giving myself chances… I took the one chance I [converted] and rolled with it.» Australians have done well in this event in recent years, De Minaur's countryman Nick Kyrgios won the event back in 2019, while Bernard Tomic was a beaten finalist in 2016.

De Minaur, the bottom seed in the draw, beat local wildcard Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez in the first round, Italian qualifier Jacopo Berrettini in the second and Japanese-American Taro Daniel in the quarter-finals all without dropping a set. Victory over Rune puts De Minaur into his 11th ATP final, of which he has won six. Opposing him in Sunday's final is Paul.