A Semi-Final at the ATP Finals with Just One Group Stage Win: De Minaur Joins a Very Exclusive Club at the Masters

Alex De Minaur will play in the ATP Finals semi-finals for the very first time in his career. Despite his two initial losses, the Australian benefited from a favorable scenario this Thursday on the final day of the group stage to reach the final four.

A small miracle has happened for De Minaur in recent hours at the Turin Masters. Very poorly positioned in the qualification race after losing his first two matches against Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti, the world number 7 beat Taylor Fritz (7-6, 6-3), which marks his first career victory in this tournament and kept him in contention for a semi-final spot.

Then, in the evening, the Spaniard defeated the Italian, sending the 26-year-old player into the final four having won only one of his three matches in the group stage. In the history of the ATP Finals, this is only the third time a player has managed to clear the group stage hurdle with just one win from their first three matches.

Before De Minaur this year, David Nalbandian (in 2006) and Kei Nishikori (in 2016) had also managed to qualify in this manner. The Australian, who will face his nemesis Jannik Sinner this Saturday (the world number 2 leads their head-to-head 12-0), can thus become the first player to have won only one group match at the Masters to reach the final.

Indeed, in 2006, Nalbandian was eliminated in the semi-finals by James Blake (6-4, 6-1), while Nishikori had a very tough day in the final four against Novak Djokovic nine years ago (6-1, 6-1).