De Minaur falls to Alcaraz in Rotterdam Open final

Alex de Minaur has lost in the Rotterdam Open final for the second year in a row, falling 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to Carlos Alcaraz on Monday morning (AEDT).

The Australian entered the final having not dropped a set all week in the Netherlands, but he was ultimately outplayed by the top seed over the course of the one-hour, 54-minute match.

For Alcaraz, it is his maiden indoor title and his first trophy since the Beijing Open in 2024.

“This week has been a really good week all together,” the Spaniard said after the match.

“Putting in really good work.

“Coming here not feeling 100% well with the cold but after every day I’m feeling better and better.

“Rotterdam has been a really special week for me.

“I was going to say not only for the title… Yeah for the title as well, but for the support that I received here since the first day.

“It was the first time that I was playing here and you made it like I’ve been playing this tournament for a long time.”

Alcaraz was the pre-tournament favourite across online bookmakers, given that 2024 champion Jannik Sinner opted to rest instead of defending his title.

He had a heavy advantage in the tennis betting odds heading into the final too.

BetOnline had Alcaraz at -303.03 to beat de Minaur, who was paying +250 to pull off an upset.

“We’re pushing for bigger and better things,” the runner-up said after the match.

“It’s been a lot of improvements in my game over the last couple years and I’m going to keep on pushing for more.

“It’s been two years now with this runner-up trophy.

“I’m hoping I’ll get my hand on the winners’ one day.”

In the day’s other final, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov completed his red-hot run in Texas, beating Casper Ruud at the Dallas Open to claim his maiden ATP 500 title.

The former Wimbledon semi-finalist had been on the 10th line of betting at BetOnline pre-tournament but defeated the event’s top three seeds in Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Ruud to en route to the title.

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