Taro Daniel and Alex de Minaur will face each other in the last eight of the 2023 Mexican Open on Friday, March 3.
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In his ninth attempt, Taro Daniel defeated Casper Ruud in the second round of ATP Acapulco to earn his first-ever top-10 victory. This is still a noteworthy accomplishment for the Japanese player, especially given his recent struggles, even though the 2022 US Open runner-up may not currently be playing top-10 tennis. The 30-year-old has occasionally displayed good form, but his play can be unpredictable. He has recently suffered some significant losses to players like Ajeet Rai (in 2023), Daniel Michalski, Andrew Harris, and Filippo Baldi as a result of his inability to strike a balance between his high and low sides.
Before this week, he may have lost eight straight matches to players ranked in the top 10, but he did manage to win a set against Rafael Nadal, Matteo Berrettini, and Jannik Sinner in four of those matches. He also did well in the first half of 2022, beating David Goffin and Andy Murray, but his play declined as the season went on. His only other ATP 500 quarterfinal match was against an Australian four years ago in Tokyo, and he played horribly that day, losing 4-6 0-6 to John Millman.
This week, Alex de Minaur has defeated world Nos. 1244 Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez and 842 Jacopo Berrettini in Acapulco. He can earn an additional 90 ranking points by defeating a player outside the top-100 in the quarterfinals. In a tournament of this calibre, it is extremely uncommon for a player to have such an easy path to the semifinals. In Rotterdam’s inaugural ATP 500 tournament of the year, he had to defeat Maxime Cressy and Andrey Rublev to earn 90 points before being defeated in three sets by Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals.
| Alex de MInaur vs Taro Daniel | Match details |
|---|---|
| Date | March 3, 2023 |
| Surface | Hard |
| Tournament | Mexican Open |
| Stage | Quarter-final |
| Time (India) | 5:30 am |
| Time (Mexico) | 5 pm (Mar 2) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Casper Ruud | 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (W) |
| JJ Wolf | 6-4, 6-4 (W) |
| Brandon Holt | 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 (W) |
| Juan Alejandro Hernandez Serrano | 6-2, 6-1 (W) |
| Borna Gojo | 6-2, 6-4 (L) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Jacopo Berrettini | 6-1, 6-0 (W) |
| Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez | 6-1, 6-2 (W) |
| Benjamin Bonzi | 6-2, 6-4 (L) |
| Alexander Ritschard | 6-3, 6-3 (W) |
| Grigor Dimitrov | 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (L) |
Alex de Minaur is ahead 1-0. (6-0 6-1 6-2 at the US Open 2018). When in good form, which appears to be the case based on Taro Daniel’s performances this week, he has demonstrated the ability to play high-quality tennis. After having a relatively simple path in the previous rounds, Alex de Minaur must step up his game and level.
Taro Daniel and Alex de Minaur will face each other in the last eight of the 2023 Mexican Open on Friday, March 3.
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