De Minaur too good for Rune in first UTS London match

The Demon roared back from the loss of the opening quarter to win their Group B clash in convincing fashion

Alex de Minaur, UTS

December 6, 2024

Alex de Minaur was at his consistent, speedy best as he recovered to beat Holger Rune 3-1 in his opening Group B match at UTS London by Builder.ai on Friday.

The Demon won 12-13, 21-6, 17-7, 25-5, storming back from the loss of the opening quarter thanks to outstanding movement and defence, as well as outstanding attack.

By the end, Rune’s legs were done, the effort of trying to keep up with De Minaur, who won his bonus cards when he needed to and stormed away for victory. Rune’s fourth-quarter score is the joint-lowest in UTS history, 25-5 is the highest points gap in the event and it’s the first time someone has scored more than 20 points twice in a match.

“I didn’t start too well but I love this UTS format, it’s always fun to play and I’m happy to be back here in London, I tell you that.

“Experience always helps. I’ve played a couple of these events, I enjoyed it, it’s a lot of energy, fun and I played some good tennis today.”

RUNE STARTS STRoNG BUT DE MINAUR COMING BACK

Rune had the first quarter in hand at 12-6 with just a couple of minutes remaining but De Minaur won his bonus card and then rallied to 12-12. But on the deciding point, Rune went big on serve, hit a big forehand and then put away a sharp smash to pinch the quarter.

Errors begin to flow for Rune

Speaking in the short break before the second quarter, De Minaur said he felt like he was gaining momentum and as he began to lengthen the rallies, so he started to enjoy more success.

From 4-4, the Aussie picked up speed to pull clear, winning his bonus card and forcing The Viking into errors. The forehand, in particular, was coughing up mistakes and De Minaur rode the momentum to level the match.

DE MINAUR TURNS THE SCREW

The two men played out a couple of epic rallies at the start of the third quarter but it was Rune who looked jaded and De Minaur jumped all over his serve, rifling returns at his feet, whether he was coming in or staying back.

The Demon won seven straight points to lead 8-2. Rune stopped the rot but he was out on his feet and unable to match the intensity coming from the other side of the net.

De Minaur won a 13-shot rally to extend his lead to 13-4 with less than a minute to go and then won his bonus card, to make it 16-7 and then finished it off 17-7.

Rune had nothing left and De Minaur quickly raced ahead in the fourth quarter, storming past the 20-point mark, while his opponent was spent, dumping balls in the net in despair and the Demon quickly wrapped things up, finishing on a big ace.