De Minaur stops Moutet’s magic to reach his second final in Washington
Alex de Minaur defeated Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday and will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the No 12 seed, in the final
Alex de Minaur in Washington | © Zuma / Psnewz
Australian Alex de Minaur, the No 7 seed, moved into the final of the Citi Open by winning against French lucky loser Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-3 at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington on Saturday.
De Minaur adopted an aggressive approach and finished the match in an hour, 45 minutes.
He broke Moutet five times, broken back twice, hit 20 winners and averaged an impressive 58 percent on the first-serve return. He used his net to great effect, winning 17 of the 21 points he played from the up front.
De Minaur, ranked No 13, will play Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina next in his 19th ATP final and a second in Washington—having played his first in 2018, when Alexander Zverev defeated him.
The Aussie is level at 2-2 with Davidovich Fokina in the head-to-head.
Ahead of his victory, the Australian defeated American Brandon Nakashima, the No 14 seed (6-4, 6-4), Czech Jiri Lehecka, the No 11 seed (7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-4) and Chinese Yunchaokete Bu (7-6 (5), 6-2).
Moutet, ranked No 59, won against Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 8 seed (1-6, 6-4, 6-4), English wildcard Daniel Evans (6-2, 7-6 (4)) and Alexandre Muller (6-0, 6-1) in the previous rounds of the Washington D.C. tournament.
Washington ATP 500, other semi-final result (William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, hard, USD 2.396.115):
- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Ben Shelton: 6-2, 7-5
