De Minaur Stuns Top Seed Zverev to Reach First Vienna Final and Grab the Last Turin Spot
Australia's Alex de Minaur beat top seed Alexander Zverev 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) in the Erste Bank Open semifinals in Vienna on Saturday to reach the final of the ATP 500 event for the first time in his career. He will face Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday's final.
The win was a breakthrough: outside team competitions, de Minaur had lost all eight of his previous meetings with Zverev. Serving at 5-6 in the deciding set, he came within two points of defeat before holding and taking the tiebreak, closing out the match in two hours and 33 minutes. The head-to-head now stands at 9-5 in Zverev's favour, and it was de Minaur's first win over the German outside the ATP Cup, United Cup and Laver Cup.
The result lifts the 27-year-old to 3,210 points in the Race to Turin, one point ahead of Rafael Jodar, in the last qualifying place for the ATP Finals. The Paris Masters, starting Monday, will decide whether he keeps the spot. De Minaur is 10-0 indoors this season, and this is his 23rd tour-level final and his fourth of 2026, after Rotterdam, 's-Hertogenbosch and Beijing; he is the first Australian to reach the Vienna final.
Defeat does not cost Zverev the bigger milestone: on Monday he will still become the 30th world No. 1 in ATP history, the second-oldest first-time No. 1. But the loss drops him to 3-9 against top-10 opponents in 2026 and denies Vienna the anticipated Alcaraz-Zverev final. According to Tennis Majors and TennisNow.
Related: Alcaraz Beats Medvedev to Reach Vienna Final: 37th Tour Final, 25 Straight ATP 500 Wins
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：澳大利亚网球选手 Alex de Minaur（资料图，2024 年劳伦斯世界体育奖红毯）。照片：Barcex，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Australian tennis player Alex de Minaur (file photo, 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards). Photo by Barcex, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
