Alex de Minaur turns into the primary ATP participant to win 11 matches this season as he beats Mattia Bellucci to achieve the Rotterdam last for a second straight 12 months.
Rotterdam, Netherlands , 8 February 2025 | AAP / Tennis Australia
Alex de Minaur has served up one other scientific show to achieve the Rotterdam Open last for the second-straight 12 months, with a straight-sets win over Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci.
The world No.8, who misplaced final 12 months’s championship match of the Dutch hardcourt match to Jannik Sinner, has given himself one other probability to turn into the one Australian aside from Lleyton Hewitt in 2004 to triumph in Rotterdam as he blitzed his technique to a 6-1 6-2 victory in simply 67 minutes.
The Sydneysider turns into the primary ATP participant this season to amass 11 match wins, underlining the deserves of the painstaking efforts which have accompanied his top-10 rise.
“There’s lots of laborious work that goes in behind the scenes and these are the rewards.,” mentioned De Minaur, who’s assured a return to a career-high No.6 rating by advantage of reaching the ultimate.
“You’re not assured outcomes placing in laborious work, however you positive as hell giving your self one of the best probability of succeeding.
“And for me, that’s all the time been my aim, my motivation to get absolutely the most out of myself and I”m very pleased with how I’m going, the place I’m at.”
He can do that all day, on a regular basis ⚡️@alexdeminaur is right here, there and EVERYWHERE! @abnamroopen | #abnamroopen pic.twitter.com/Kd7s46G6eC
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 8, 2025
World No.92 Bellucci had loved what he’d known as a “life-changing week” as he had battled by qualifying to take out each second seed Daniil Medvedev and sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
However third seed De Minaur proved a step too far for the 23-year-old left-hander who, on the finish of a draining week, might have achieved with out operating right into a participant who’s seemed in very good kind all week whereas cantering into the ultimate with out dropping a set.
“Greater than something, I simply present up on daily basis and put my head down. I do my greatest each time I step out on courtroom. I strive, I attempt to win each level I can, and I’ve ended up having a few good weeks in a row,” smiled de Minaur, who had helped Australia win their Davis Cup qualifying tie in Sweden final week.
“And hopefully now I can do one higher than final 12 months.”
De Minaur has solely dropped serve as soon as over what will need to have felt a cathartic week for him in his first particular person match since exiting to Sinner within the Australian Open quarterfinals – his solely loss for the season.
He was in no temper to provide Bellucci any respiration room as he provided up his acquainted research in perpetual movement to subdue the energetic Italian showman, who had rapidly bought the gang on his facet by producing a spectacular tweener winner to cap an excellent rally within the very first sport.
“He’s performed with a lot confidence this complete week and performed some unbelievable tennis,” mentioned De Minaur.
“I used to be capable of actually analyse his matches and see perhaps a pair areas the place I might damage him and perhaps he wasn’t as snug.
“I knew it was going to return out and play very unfastened and stuffed with confidence. So I believed if I might get on prime of him early, then that may form of open up the match.
“I simply needed to do my greatest to stick with him early and see if I might get my possibilities.”
De Minaur rapidly wore Bellucci down, finally breaking his serve 4 occasions on his technique to the 18th ATP last of his profession,
The 25-year-old goals to take care of his successful momentum within the last in opposition to No.1 seed Carlos Alcaraz, who took three units to advance over the eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz, realizing there’s nonetheless room to enhance on his present kind.
“I don’t assume that’s my ceiling,” De Minaur added. “I feel I’ve bought just a little bit extra to go and hopefully I can carry on pushing this 12 months and end sturdy.”
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