23-year-old Alex de Minaur defeated 25-year-old Maxime Cressy in a hard-fought battle 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO Open.

It was a tricky match for the Australian against the big serving 6’5” American. De Minaur was patient and made a lot of returns. When he had his chances, he hit incredible passing shots, low shots that landed near Cressy’s shoelaces, and terrific lobs when Cressy had closed close to the net.

The American is a pleasure to watch because he is different from most players on the tour who are hard-hitting baseliners. Cressy plays an old school serve-and-volley style of tennis. It’s nice to see that variety.

After winning the first set and dominating the beginning of the second, it looked like de Minaur was in control. But with a player like Cressy, who took more chances in the second set, it can turn around quickly.

In the third set, at 2-1, de Minaur broke with a couple of double faults by Cressy, a terrific passing shot down the line, and a low return that caused Cressey to volley into the net.

At 3-1, de Minaur held at love. Cressy held at love. De Minaur held at 15. It looked then like Cressy’s energy began to drop. And de Minaur continued to dominate on his serve. It only took the one break and de Minaur was able to serve the match out.

For the match, de Minaur hit 15 winners and 9 unforced errors, while Cressy hit 28 winners and 33 unforced errors.

Cressy won 20 of 40 points at the net, while de Minaur won five of eight.

Cressy hit 12 aces and 11 double faults. De Minaur hit seven aces and four double faults.

In his on-court interview after the match, de Minaur said: “He’s a hell of a player. It’s an extremely tough match. Great serve, great volley, he’s a very aggressive player, takes the racquet out of your hands. I was just very happy how I stayed mentally. I didn’t let the number of aces he hit bother me too much. I just played point by point and ultimately it went my way, so I’m very happy.”

Next up for de Minaur is Grigor Dimitrov.