Libema s-Hertogenbosch Open final preview: De Minaur and Korda set for grass-court showdown

Alex De Minaur (No. 9) and Sebastian Korda (No. 26) will headline the first grass-court final of the year at the Libema s-Hertogenbosch Open. Both players have had a successful start to the grass-swing, with high returns as they will both achieve their best ranking once the tournament concludes.

The Australian is the top seed in terms of ranking and comes to the tournament after reaching his first quarterfinals at Roland Garros. On the other hand, Korda seeks to show that he is back to showcase his best level and to take a leap with his second title.

With a solid record of 32-11 this year and a title at the ATP 500 Mexican Open, De Minaur arrived as the first seed at the Libema Open. The Australian is already established in the top 10 and will rise to No. 7, his best historical ranking, if he clinches the title.

So far, De Minaur has not dropped a set in the tournament, securing victories over Zizou Bergs (No. 81), Milos Raonic (No. 197), and the third seed Ugo Humbert (No. 16) by 7-6(4), 6-3. He was up 4-0 in the first set but allowed his opponent to recover and win five consecutive games. Nevertheless, he managed to take the match in straight sets.

“Ugo is an incredible competitor, he always fights 'til the end, so he made it very tricky. I was able to just sneak that first set and then happy with the break at the end and happy to be here. Happy it didn't rain and onto the final.”

The 26-year-old has already shown his ability on grass, finishing as runner-up at the Queen’s Club Championships last year, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

Korda will return to his career-high ranking as world No. 23 and will play in the 7th final of his career. The 23-year-old American only clinched the title at the 2021 Parma Open and lost the other five finals he played, all in ATP 250 tournaments.

His path in 's Hertogenbosch has been slightly longer than that of his opponent, who had a bye in the first round. Korda entered as the 7th seed and defeated qualifier Tristan Schoolkate (No. 185), later overcoming Luca Nardi (No. 73), second seed Tommy Paul (No. 13), and 6th seed Tallon Griekspoor (No. 23), all in straight sets.

Korda was nearly flawless with his serve against Griekspoor, winning 80% of points on his first serve and 87% on his second. The American didn't face any break points and capitalized on 3 out of 4 break opportunities in the match: “It was super tricky, super windy, and obviously Tallon is an unbelievable player and he won here last year. It’s a nice confidence boost for me and hopefully I can win another match tomorrow.”

In their head-to-head encounters, De Minaur leads 2-1. He emerged victorious in their last two meetings at the 2024 Rotterdam Open (6-4, 6-3) and 2022 Paris Masters (6-4, 4-6, 6-4), both on indoor hard courts. However, Korda's lone win came on grass back in 2021 Wimbledon, where the American prevailed in a four-set battle 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6 in the first round.