Aussie Alex de Minaur backs up from 3am top-10 upset to win biggest ever title at Mexican Open

Australia’s No.1-ranked tennis player Alex de Minaur has claimed the biggest title of his career, coming from a set down to beat Tommy Paul and win the Mexican Open in Acapulco.

Less than 24 hours after also coming back from a set down against world No.10 Holger Rune to win a semi-final that ended near 3am local time, de Minaur repeated the feat against the American who made the Australian Open semi-finals.

The 3-6 6-4 6-1 win made him four-for-four in his career against Paul, the previous three meetings coming last year.

The ATP 500 tournament win is the biggest of de Minaur’s career after six 250-level triumphs since 2019.

“It feels great, it feels amazing,” De Minaur said after the match.

“I know the hard work I’ve put in to be here, and it’s good to see the results.

“It’s not always that you win a tournament and you get to finish a week unbeaten so I’ll definitely cherish this heading into Indian Wells and Miami.”

He had previously lost ATP 500 finals in Washington (to Alex Zverev in 2018) and Basel (to Roger Federer in 2019).

De Minaur is now ranked inside the top 20, and is in the midst of a promising 2023 campaign that includes three wins over top-10 players - the Rune semi-final, plus wins over Rafael Nadal in Sydney and Andrey Rublev in Rotterdam.

“I just want to keep pushing, keep getting the most out of myself,” he said.

“I might not play unbelievable tennis every day but I know I’m gonna fight until the end.

“I’ve got a whole lot of heart in this little body of mine and I enjoy competing, so very happy with it.”