De Minaur’s Paris run ends, but not before moving into Nitto ATP Finals qualifying position

Alex de Minaur lost to Holger Rune 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Paris Masters on Friday afternoon. However, De Minaur will go into next week in Nitto ATP Finals qualifying position unless Grigor Dimitrov reaches the Paris title match.

Previously ninth in the race to Turin, De Minaur needed at least a quarterfinal result to move into the No. 8 spot after Andrey Rublev lost his opening match. That is exactly what the Aussie got by beating Jack Draper 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 during third-round action on Thursday.

“It took every ounce of me, and I’m just happy that I was able to rally,” De Minaur said after defeating the Vienna champion. “I’m gonna put my body on the line. I’m gonna try my hardest. I’m gonna show my opponent that I can do that all day…. That’s what it took today.

“You can never say ‘job done’ in the middle of a tournament. That’s not in my DNA. Obviously (I’m) super stoked with the win today, but it’s on to the next.”

De Minuar certainly put everything on the line in Friday’s quarterfinal clash against Rune, but it wasn’t quite enough. The world No. 10 was two points away from victory late in the third set before eventually falling in two hours and 26 minutes.

Next week features a pair of ATP 250s, with De Minaur playing in Belgrade and Rublev taking his talents to Metz. De Minaur must equal or better Rublev’s result in order to stay head of the Russian.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.