The amazing Brisbane International run of Alex de Minaur came to end on Saturday with a 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 semifinal loss to Ryan Harrison. de Minaur put himself within two points of his first career ATP title match while serving at 5-4 in the second set tiebreaker, but Harrison recovered before prevailing in two hours and 37 minutes.
A de Minaur forehand error at 5-4 followed by a double-fault at 5-5 allowed Harrison to wrap up the middle frame of play on his own serve at 6-5 in the ‘breaker. The 47th-ranked American was off to the races at that point, breaking twice in a row in the third en route to a 5-2 advantage. Harrison hiccuped once while serving for the match, but he eventually closed it out with a clutch hold at 5-4.
Harrison on-court interview:
“I played a great match,” the 18-year-old Australian reflected. “I had my opportunities. (It) was very close. It was a couple points away, but it’s tennis. You have some of your biggest highs, and then you’ve got some matches where you finish and you’re a little bit heartbroken. But this is what I love about this sport–the highs and lows. But this is just going to make me work harder tomorrow; get ready for my next one.
“It’s an incredible high for me this whole week. And I’m just using it as a learning curve to bigger and better things. So I’m really looking forward to what’s to come.”
For Harrison, what’s coming next is a final against another Aussie–a much more established one in Nick Kyrgios. The world No. 21 ousted defending Brisbane champion and reigning Nitto ATP Finals winner Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in Saturday’s nightcap. Kyrgios crushed 19 aces compared to just two double-faults while winning 82 percent of his first-serve points.
“I hadn’t beaten him before,” said Kyrgios, who had been 0-2 lifetime against Dimitrov. “Going into today, I knew that I was going to do something a little different. I was going to kind of just not give him too much rhythm. Come in a lot, be super aggressive off my returns. And obviously try and just serve, just serve pretty much anywhere and just play aggressive. He played a pretty solid first set. I played a pretty loose game to get broken. And then, pretty much from then on, I felt pretty in control of the match.”
Kyrgios-Dimitrov highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPoThFYcCrk
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