De Minaur notches 300th career win in fast Vienna start
Alex de Minaur kick-started his 2025 title bid at the Erste Bank Open with a milestone Monday victory against home favourite Jurij Rodionov.
The third-seeded Australian brushed aside wild card Rodionov 6-4, 6-1 at the indoor ATP 500 to claim his 300th tour-level win. De Minaur, who has now earned a Tour-leading 38 hard-court victories this season, is just the second man born in 1999 or later to hit the 300 tally, after World No. 2 Jannik Sinner.
“It’s pretty cool. You go through this sport, through your career, and you don’t really get time or many options to really let something sink in,” said De Minaur. “This is one of those things that is a pretty cool moment, to get to 300. Obviously, it seems what has been a long career and I’ve enjoyed these 300 wins.”
De Minaur raced to the milestone in style against World No. 154 Rodionov, who competed well in the first set but crucially let slip two break points in the fifth game. The Austrian became increasingly erratic with his groundstrokes in the second and De Minaur ultimately eased to an 80-minute victory inside the Wiener Stadthalle.
Next up for De Minaur in the Austrian capital is a second-round meeting with Camilo Ugo Carabelli or another home wild card, Filip Misolic. The Australian remains on track to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the second consecutive year: De Minaur is currently seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, just 125 points shy of sixth-placed Ben Shelton.
Eighth seed Alexander Bublik also had little trouble advancing to the second round in Vienna. According to Infosys ATP Stats, the Kazakhstani struck 12 aces and won 91 per cent (31/34) of points behind his first serve in his 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Alejandro Tabilo. After winning his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Tabilo in just 68 minutes, the World No. 16 Bublik will play Francisco Cerundolo or Alex Michelsen for a quarter-final spot.
In other Monday action, Brandon Nakashima defeated Luciano Darderi 6-2, 7-5 to set a meeting with fifth seed Karen Khachanov or Tallon Griekspoor, while Matteo Arnaldi eased past Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-5, 6-4. Italy’s Arnaldi will play second seed and former champion Alexander Zverev or Jacob Fearnley in the second round.
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