De Minaur holds off Halys to make China Open quarters

Somehow, some way, Alex de Minaur found a way to win.

De Minaur defeated Quentin Halys 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 in a three-hour long thriller in the China Open Round of 16.

After dropping four match points and allowing Halys to equalize 5-5 in the third set, de Minaur stayed composed and immediately broke back to be able to serve out the match.

“Of course, I would’ve loved to have closed it out there. There were some questionable decisions I made in those moments,” de Minaur said. “The best way is just to give yourself another chance, right? I would have felt a lot worse if I let that game affect me and I got in a bad mood, then all of a sudden I let it dictate the next two games of that match.”

After dropping the first set and going down a break in the second, it looked like Halys was going to run away with an upset. But de Minaur dug deep when it mattered most, breaking back to equalize at five games apiece. He then survived three set points to hold before winning the set in a tiebreak.

“For me in that stage I had to try and be aggressive because he wasn’t really missing,” de Minaur. “So I had to kind of back myself to take some more chances, even if my back was against the wall.

“Today I was able to execute, so I’m happy about that.”

De Minaur leaned on his team multiple times in key moments of the match for advice and encouragement.

“Before he was serving for (the match), I basically told them that if I don’t break now, I’m in trouble, so let’s try and get the break,” de Minaur said. “100 percent having the bench so close, you can have some good interactions.”

The Aussie’s win-streak is up to five matches since the U.S. Open, which he’ll look to continue in his quarterfinal match against Andrey Rublev.

By Jackson West