“I’m glad I was able to get a win here in Holland.”
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De Minaur did not drop a set all tournament, with Milos Raonic and Ugo Humbert among his other high-quality scalps.
His aggressive mindset repeatedly placed Korda under pressure, while he terrorised the exasperated American with his stout defence and a series of lobs that Lleyton Hewitt would have been proud of.
De Minaur’s Roland-Garros performance propelled him back inside the top 10 to No.9, but the ’s-Hertogenbosch title will see him leapfrog Hubert Hurkacz and Casper Ruud to climb another two spots.
To put that into perspective, dual grand slam finalist Mark Philippoussis’ best ranking was No.8, with only Hewitt and Pat Rafter ranked higher than him among Australians on the men’s side this century.
De Minaur will need another strong week at the Queen’s Club Championships to remain at his new ranking, given he lost the final to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz last year, but he is in a great position to earn a top-eight seeding at Wimbledon, which starts on July 1.
He is making a habit of going deep at almost every tournament he plays, with this success following back-to-back triumphs at Acapulco in February.
De Minaur also reached the final in Rotterdam and the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo in what is shaping as a statement year on tour. He is ranked sixth in the Race to Turin, where the eight best-performed men will compete in the end-of-year Tour Finals.
The Sydneysider seemed headed for an even earlier finish when he stormed to a set and 2-0 lead on the back of six consecutive games before Korda broke him back against the flow to threaten to make a contest of the final.
But the sweet-striking Korda struggled in most of his service games and that proved his downfall against de Minaur, one of the tour’s great returners.
The world No.26 dropped serve five times and won only 55 per cent of first-serve points, and twice had to stave off championship points at 5-2 down in the second set.
Korda hung on and continued to fight, with a thunderous forehand stopping de Minaur from serving the match out and presenting him the chance to tie the second set at five-all.
He took a medical time-out for a blister then won his first point back on court with a ’tweener, but he was soon in trouble again – and this time de Minaur converted his opportunity.
De Minaur is the No.2 seed behind Alcaraz at Queen’s, with Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti his first-round foe. Countryman Jordan Thompson faces No.7 seed Holger Rune in his opener.
Source Agencies
