Vienna, Austria, 26 October 2024 | Matt Trollope

Alex de Minaur’s return to form continues, with the Australian No.1 winning through to the ATP 500 semifinals in Vienna.

De Minaur battled for more than two-and-a-half hours to subdue talented Czech teen Jakub Mensik, winning 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4.

Mensik, 19, was a qualifier at the indoor hard-court tournament, and by winning the opener extended his streak to nine consecutive sets won.

He also held two break points in the first game of the second set, before De Minaur steadied the ship on Friday evening in the Austrian capital.

Withstanding 47 winners from his opponent, including 15 aces, De Minaur rallied to win his 44th match of 2024, advancing to his fourth semifinal of the season – yet first since ‘s-Hertogenbosch in June.

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De Minaur served out the match in the final game without dropping a point to set a clash with Karen Khachanov, last week’s ATP Almaty champion who is unbeaten in his past seven matches.

The pair have not met in more than two years, with the head-to-head locked at 1-1.

De Minaur is a perfect 3-0 in ATP semifinals this year.

This week in Vienna represents encouraging progress for the 25-year-old Aussie, whose season has been blighted by injury since he sustained a hip cartilage tear during his fourth-round win at Wimbledon.

This is just his third tournament since then; impressively, he has reached at least the quarterfinal stage at all of them.

De Minaur closes to within 165 points of eighth-placed Andrey Rublev in the race to the ATP Finals. Rublev lost his quarterfinal match at the concurrent tournament in Basel, Switzerland, to Ben Shelton.

De Minaur has never before qualified at the prestigious season-ending eight-player event, but it remains a possibility in what has been a career-best year.

Currently ranked ninth, De Minaur peaked at world No.6 in July after reaching the last eight at Wimbledon. He reached the second week at all four majors in 2024, including consecutive quarterfinals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open.

He now stands just two wins away from his third title of the season, after triumphs in Acapulco and ‘s-Hertogenbosch.