Alex de Minaur appears to be hitting his stride at just the right time in his late-season push for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals.
The 27-year-old overcame top seed Alexander Zverev 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) on Saturday to book his place in the final of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. With his statement victory over Zverev — who will become the 30th man to rise to World No. 1 on Monday — De Minaur jumped above Rafael Jodar to ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, putting him in line for the final qualifying spot at the 2026 Nitto ATP Finals.
“Super proud, super proud with how I handled the situation,” De Minaur said in his on-court interview. “I was very calm, even though I threw in a couple doubles there. I thought, all in all, I played a very aggressive tie-break. I played on my terms. I was going to go out swinging and playing the right type of tennis, and that’s what made the difference today.”
De Minaur is bidding to qualify for the season-ending championship for a third consecutive year. He will have another opportunity to strengthen his position when he takes on Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday's ATP 500 final in Vienna, before turning his attention to next week's ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris.
After Zverev threatened a fightback in the second set, De Minaur rediscovered his trademark consistency and exceptional athleticism before triumphing in a nervy final-set tie-break. It marks the Australian No. 1’s first win over Zverev outside team events and his fifth overall, with the German still leading their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 9-5.
"I'm just happy with what I'm doing, the way I'm competing and going about my business," De Minaur added. "I'm just [putting] one foot in front of the other. Ultimately, I'm playing some good tennis, so I'm looking forward to hopefully finishing [the season] strong."
De Minaur is just the fourth player to record 21 or more ATP 500 match wins in a single season since the series began in 2009, joining Juan Martin del Potro, Carlos Alcaraz and David Ferrer. The 27-year-old is into his fourth final of 2026, where he will look to register his first victory over Alcaraz, having lost all six of their previous encounters.
Zverev will now head to Paris, where he will begin his first tournament as World No. 1 against Lorenzo Musetti or Hubert Hurkacz. The two-time major champion has already secured his place at the Nitto ATP Finals, which will take place from 15-22 November in Turin, Italy.
In Saturday’s second semi-final in Vienna, De Minaur made an assured start, expertly neutralising Zverev’s serve and consistently getting the better of the German in the longer exchanges. The Australian won 64 per cent (7/11) of points lasting more than nine shots and frequently found the answers when Zverev looked to move forward and finish points at the net.
Zverev, however, showed his fighting spirit in the second set, settling into the contest and letting out a rare roar of approval after breaking for a 2-0 lead. The 29-year-old had to save six set points along the way, but did so impressively before racing through the set to force a decider.
There was little to separate the two players in the final set, with neither able to create a break-point opportunity. Yet De Minaur, who fired a double fault on his first match point at 6/2, eventually held his nerve to cross the line after two hours, 30 minutes.
