Classy Carlos Alcaraz shines at ABN AMRO Open Rotterdam, confounds Alex de Minaur to back-to-back final losses
Match Report
At the ABN ARMO Open Rotterdam, Carlos Alcaraz played his first final of the 2025 season. The challenge ahead of him was very complicated. Alex de Minaur, his opponent, had been offering a very high level of tennis and they put on a show.
In the end, the victory went to Carlitos, adding his first title of 2025. He played a very serious match, showing that his improvement in his serve is all to see. He defeated the Australian after a great match by a score of 6-4, 3-6 and 6-2.
FIRST SET
Regarding the development of the final, the first set began with Alcaraz quickly getting the first break of the match. At 1-1, he broke De Minaur's serve, which he then confirmed with a hold to take a 3-1 lead.
The first moment of doubt of Alcaraz with his serve was going to take advantage of the Australian. With 4-3, De Miñaur had 3 break points to get 0-40, and would return the tie to the scoreboard with a hold.
Despite this, Carlitos was going to give him a taste of his own medicine immediately. In the next game, Alcaraz was also 0-40, with 3 break points, and with a brutal backhand forehand return he got his second break, with the possibility of winning the set with his serve. The Spaniard did not fail, and closed the first set 6-4.
SECOND SET
In the second set, things started badly for Alcaraz. The Spaniard lost his first service game, which De Miñaur confirmed to take a 0-3 lead.
The Australian had raised his level a lot. Carlitos, as a consequence, did not look comfortable on the court. He had the chance to tie the match at 2-4 down if he had converted the break point he had. However, De Miñaur managed to save it and get 2-5.
Alcaraz could not reduce the difference, and Alex de Miñaur tied the match closing the second set with a solid 3-6 in his favor. Everything was decided in the third set.
THIRD SET
The tension from the beginning of the decisive set was in the air. It was noticeable in both players, as they both tried not to make the slightest mistake with their respective serves. As a result, each game was a real physical and mental struggle for both rivals.
After 3-2 in favor of Carlos Alcaraz, the player from Murcia delivered the crucial blow to Alex de Miñaur with a break that left him 4-2 up. After confirming it with his serve, Carlitos was 5-2 up. He did not even wait to close the victory and the tournament with his serve, but he did it with a last break to sentence the Australian to defeat 6-2.
Just In
Popular News
Latest Comments
- Hard to believe Emma "understands" all the much about the rigors of a prioritized Life in tennis.
mandoist11-02-2025 - "Intensified" ??? Yeah, right. Nothing has changed... nothing has "intensified"; only continued.mandoist10-02-2025
- Bencic is all business right now. If Rybakina is the ice queen, then Bencic is Antarctica—colder, sharper, and seemingly unstoppable. 🔥❄️MrAndreeva07-02-2025
- Creepy.mandoist07-02-2025
- Ouch!!mandoist07-02-2025
- they need to change the rules on the WTA to limit wildcards more effectively like they have on the ATPSososo06-02-2025
- This is just getting beyond ridiculous!! Not to mention unsportsmanlike and unfair to serious up & coming contenders.mandoist06-02-2025
- No, writer, we were not "stunned". If you knew your business you would have been aware of her statement last weekend re: her knee and retirement. The main take-away here is that Simona went out on her own terms. She surely wanted to play again after WTA & ITIA screwed her out of her final productive seasons. Personally, I believed she was going to make this announcement when I saw the President and his family in their box seats. Good for Simone -- now she can move on to other things as she said she would.mandoist04-02-2025
- It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025 - "If Novak did this, he would be defaulted for life. WTF." 🤣 WTF sounds like What Tennis Fury?! What Tennis Flurry??! I mean, se-rious-ly, it was actually the unfairness of the silly umpire's decision that is the issue here! Further, how come it was Gurin & his team who got disqualified? If this kind of thing happens in soccer, it would be the other guy getting the yellow or red card! Because after all, it was the Belgian who's foul it was so why then penalize the opponents for something they didn't instigate? Fouls in both basketball and soccer are read as a hinderance that has been caused by the player who INITIALLY instigated the hinderance. In this case, okay, it is tennis, but while the precise rules are different to either soccer or basketball, the same type of recognition as to whoever instigates a hinderance should apply, and in this case, it was the Belgian player.Sueiyin04-02-2025
