Alex de Minaur overcomes worrying issue as Aussie tennis star records huge seven-year first.

De Minaur made a telling admission about his game after a big rankings boost for the Aussie star.

Alex de Minaur admitted his tennis ‘wasn’t pretty’ as he clinched an impressive seven-year first by winning through to the final of the Citi Open in Washington. De Minaur overcame an error-prone display to beat French lucky loser Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-3 to advance into the tournament decider for the first time since 2018.

The Aussie will play 12th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final after the Spaniard downed local hope Ben Shelton 6-2 7-5 in the other semi-final. De Minaur’s triumph over Moutet was a double victory for the Aussie, moving him past Russian Andrey Rublev into World No.10 in the live rankings, in what is a huge boost ahead of next month’s US Open.

De Minaur had already overtaken World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz as the player with the most wins at ATP 500 level since the start of 2023 by beating American 14th seed Brandon Nakashima in the quarter-finals. His win against Moutet marked a 41st triumph for de Minaur over that period and he also has a tour-leading 21 wins on hard courts this season.

The signs bode well for de Minaur’s hopes at the US Open, but he had to overcome an error-strewn performance against Moutet to advance into the Washington final. The Aussie sprayed an uncharacteristic 33 unforced errors, including 21 in the opening set and 21 for the match on his backhand.

“It wasn’t pretty tennis, but I knew it was going to be a tricky match without a lot of rhythm,” De Minuar said after the match. “That’s what he’s able to do to opponents. I had the mentality of doing whatever it took to get into the title match tomorrow.”

Alex de Minaur defies errors and conditions to move into final
De Minaur won 14 consecutive points to start the second set and seemed to be coasting to victory against the Frenchman. But a double fault saw him drop serve at 4-1 and the Aussie then failed to serve out the match at 5-2 in a game that also started with a double fault.

Where the 26-year-old really shone was at the net, however, with de Minaur winning 17 of 22 points when he came in from the baseline. The Aussie quickly identified that Moutet’s backhand was his weaker side and exploited that fact with ruthless regularity, despite admitting the conditions in Washington presented their own challenges.

“It feels like the humidity is growing every single day,” he added. “Today, I had a couple of puddles in my shoes, so I had to change [them] mid-set, which is a first. But I guess tomorrow, I’ll just bring an extra pair of shoes – and I’ll be ready.”

De Minaur’s run in Washington is shaping as the ideal preparation for his upcoming campaign at the US Open. He entered the tournament ranked No.13 in the world but has made the most of a situation that has helped him surge up the standings.

The Aussie doesn’t have any points to defend heading into the year’s final grand slam because he didn’t play any of the lead-up events last year. De Minaur was sidelined by a hip injury he sustained at Wimbledon in 2024, meaning he didn’t play between the grass and hard-court grand slams. That means he doesn’t have any rankings points to defend this year, and any further wins he records will aid his rise up the rankings.