Alex de Minaur has hailed his "great mental effort" as he battled successfully with both his own frustration and an inspired home favourite to book another semi-final spot at the Rotterdam Open while equalling a 50-year-old landmark.
Australia's No.1 looked somewhat out of sorts for much of his quarter-final against Dutch world No.65 Botic van de Zandschulp on Friday, but he still managed to finally wear down his big-hitting opponent to prevail 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 at the Rotterdam Ahoy arena.
It's set up the world No.8 with a third successive semi-final at one of his favourite hard-court tournaments, where he'll play French left-hander Ugo Humbert on Saturday.