City Tattersalls Group Australian Open 2024 Semi Final: Crouin Dispatches Steinmann in Four

The men’s top seed Victor Crouin secured his spot in the men’s final after dispatching Swiss No.2 Dimitri Steinmann 3-1.

In tough conditions, Crouin handled the heat on court at the University of Sydney the better with his physicality pivotal in becoming the first male player to progress to tomorrow’s final.

French No.1 Crouin had won the previous two encounters with Steinmann, their most recent at the El Gouna International last season.

Both players were looking to put plenty of work into each other’s legs with lengthy rallies throughout, and it was Crouin who prevailed in the opener to edge an 11-8 win.

The tough rallies continued in the second as Crouin was finding success with the backhand drop into the left corner, however it was Steinmann who had a solitary game ball. Crouin saved it, but Steinmann converted at the second attempt in the tiebreak to level the match.

Crouin regrouped in the third, driving the ball well into the back corners which Steinmann struggled to read. An 8-4 lead became an 11-4 win for the Frenchman, who coped well with the testing conditions more than Steinmann.

The conditions looked to be taking their toll on Steinmann in the fourth as Crouin pressed on with winning some more tough rallies, clinching the game 11-2 to advance to the decider.

“First of all I’m happy to be back in the final of a Bronze event – that’s what I came here for,” he said.

“I’ve missed my shots to get into finals of Bronze events this season, so it was important for me to go all the way here and I’m going to enjoy the final.

“Regarding that match, I’m pretty happy about it. Usually I’d be happy to win in three games but I didn’t have that consistency in the second game to close it out. But I was happy to come back in the third and the fourth and play some good squash, more consistent squash all the way through and get through the end.”

Result:
[1] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt [4] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-1: 11-8, 10-12, 11-4, 11-2 (57m)