Alex de Minaur has capped another career-defining day, with the young Australian winning through to the final of the Next Gen ATP Tour Finals.
The 19-year-old faced his toughest assignment yet in Milan, coming up against Spaniard Jaume Munar in what would prove to be a semi final for the ages.
Riding the waves of strong wins over Liam Caruana, Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz, de Minaur needed another strong performance to back up up his impressive run - and he didn't disappoint, although he was pushed to five sets by Munar.
Munar, ranked No. 76, trains at Rafael Nadal’s academy, and took to fight to the Aussie.
OUR AUSSIE: Who is Alex de Minaur?
The Spaniard took the first set in a tiebreaker, 4-3 (7-5). However, de Minaur cruised through the next two sets - both scores reading 4-1 - and had a chance to wrap up the match in the fourth.
However, Munar again sprang into life and forced the match to a deciding set, winning another tiebreak, 4-3 (7-4).
De Minaur, though, showed guile beyond his years to seal the fifth set set 4-2 to book a place in the final.
Earlier in the day, de Minaur was crowned the ATP World Tour’s Newcomer of the Year - and it was easy to see why.
2018 Newcomer of the Year.... Alex de Minaur#MoetATPAwards 🏆 #ATP pic.twitter.com/a5nu4jFuN8
— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) November 9, 2018
In 2018, the teenager has risen from 201st to 31st in the world rankings, and has all but guaranteed a seeding for January's Australian Open.
It was a breakout year to remember - de Minaur became the first 19-year-old to reach consecutive ATP semis since Rafael Nadal in 2005.
Those results - a semi in Brisbane, and a final in Sydney - justified what was to come, with de Minaur reaching the third round at both Wimbledon and the US Open, as well as the final of the Citi Open in Washington.
The youngest player at the Next Gen tournament, de Minaur has already taken his 2018 season earnings past $AUD1.4 million with his clean sweep of the round-robin stage in Milan.
However, should he defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday morning (AEDT) in the final - thus finishing the tournament unbeaten - the Aussie will enjoy a $563,000 payday.
