In the Match of the Day on the packed Center Court, the Australian put on an impressive performance against Luciano Darderi, winning 6-0, 6-3. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
De Minaur entered Hamburg on a three-match losing streak but he danced past World No. 16 Darderi to book a semi-final spot on debut at the clay-court event in northern Germany.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
De Minaur is the first Australian to reach the Hamburg semi-finals since former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in 2007. The 27-year-old has risen two spots to No. 7 in the ATP Live Rankings as a result of his quarter-final triumph, according to AtP stats.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Darderi found no answer to the Australian\u2019s dominant play, especially in the first set, and repeatedly came up short in tight deuce games. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Italian didn\u2019t win his first game until his first service game of the second set\u2014after 52 minutes. Darderi then forced his opponent into longer rallies, but failed to capitalize on one of his break points at 1-3. A late comeback by Darderi, cheered on by the euphoric crowd at Rothenbaum, went unrewarded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe last 20 or 30 minutes of this match, the conditions couldn\u2019t have been any slower and any heavier,\u201d said De Minaur, who prevailed in one of the match points of the 2026 season so far to seal his win.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
De Minaur, who is eyeing his first ATP Tour championship-match appearance on clay, will next play Tommy Paul.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The sixth-seeded Paul earlier overcame home favourite Daniel Altmaier 6-2, 7-5 to become the first American to reach the Hamburg semi-finals since Pete Sampras in 1995.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Later, Paul\u2019s fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic also reached the last four. Kovacevic celebrated a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7(10), 6-2 victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
The sixth-seeded Paul earlier overcame home favourite Daniel Altmaier 6-2, 7-5 to become the first American to reach the Hamburg semi-finals since Pete Sampras in 1995.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The last time two Americans were among the top four was in 1981, when it was Jimmy Connors and Harold Solomon.<\/p>\r\n\r\n