London, Great Britain, 23 June 2023 | Leigh Rogers

Queen’s Club, Great Britain

Alex de Minaur has continued his impressive run at an ATP 500 tournament at Queen’s Club, overcoming Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in a hard-fought quarterfinal.

The seventh-seeded Australian edged out a 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory against the wily world No.46.

“It’s never easy playing Adrian. I think everyone on tour knows that. It’s always going to be a chess match until the end,” said De Minaur after recording a fourth win in their fifth career meeting.

“I’m extremely proud that I was able to get on top today against a very high-quality grass court player.”

https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1672222688192888834?s=20

De Minaur needed two hours and 23 minutes to secure his place in the semifinals.

This matches his career-best result at Queen’s Club, the biggest tournament on the ATP Tour’s calendar in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

“This is the part of the year which I thoroughly love,” said De Minaur. “Ever since the first time I stepped on a grass court, I told myself that this was going to be my favourite surface.

“Now I’m fortunate to play in these prestigious events, best grass courts in the world.”

World No.18 De Minaur, who was also a semifinalist at Queen’s Club in 2021, is aiming to become the first Australian champion at the tournament since Lleyton Hewitt in 2006.

“Obviously would be pretty surreal to win it,” said the 24-year-old Australian.

“But the whole plan is to take advantage of this part of the year and hopefully gather some points and really set myself up in the rankings to finish the year strong.

“That’s the ultimate goal, and I’m playing some great tennis. Hopefully, I can keep it going. I played very well last year at Wimby, so that’s obviously the main goal.”

> READ: De Minaur’s game a “natural fit” on grass

De Minaur’s immediate focus now turns to a semifinal clash with world No.6 Holger Rune, who prior to this week had never won a tour-level grass-court match.

“I think I’m starting to play better and better,” Rune warned after beating world No.16 Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals.

Aussies in action – Queen’s Club

RESULTS
Men’s singles, quarterfinals
[7] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-4 4-6 6-4

COMING UP
Men’s singles, semifinals
[7] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v [2] Holger Rune (DEN)

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