No Jannik Sinner, no sweat, says Rotterdam Open winner Carlos Alcaraz

ROTTERDAM – Carlos Alcaraz said on Feb 9 that he had not missed Jannik Sinner at last week’s Rotterdam Open, seizing on the world No. 1’s absence to clinch his first indoor title.

Sinner pulled out at the last moment from the Rotterdam draw after triumphing at January’s Australian Open.

Asked if he had missed his Italian rival after overpowering Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the Feb 9 final, Alcaraz quipped: “Not really!

“Now that I’m holding the trophy, I’m going to say that I didn’t miss him in the tournament. It could have been great having him and me in the same tournament. Probably, we could have played a great final.”

In the actual final, world No. 3 Alcaraz had too much power off both flanks for de Minaur, who retrieved valiantly but lacked the weapons to topple the top seed.

“This week has been a really good week,” said the 21-year-old.

“I came here not feeling 100 per cent well with a cold but every day I felt better and better,” added the Spaniard, who wore a nose-clip all week to help him breathe easier.

Alcaraz was first to seize the initiative, breaking de Minaur’s serve in the third game, helped by a double fault and some ferocious groundstrokes.

But the Australian, whose world ranking now improves to sixth, struck back, breaking to love in the seventh game to bring the set back on serve at 4-4.

An ill-judged drop shot at 0-30 down in the next game put the pressure back on de Minaur and Alcaraz produced a powerful backhand pass to give himself a chance to serve out the set.

The Spaniard secured the opener at the first time of asking, de Minaur netting a forehand return and giving himself an uphill battle to get back into the match.

The second set saw a shift in momentum as de Minaur managed an early break of his own and raced into a 3-0 lead. He squandered two chances at a second break but clung on to his serve to give himself an opportunity to close out the set.

He levelled the match, as Alcaraz dumped a backhand into the net, having smashed two wild forehands long out of court earlier in the game.

The decisive set went with serve until the sixth game when Alcaraz got his nose in front, breaking the Australian’s serve with a drop shot that de Minaur pushed wide.

De Minaur served to stay in the match at 5-2 down but hit a catastrophic double fault to give Alcaraz two match points.

He then pushed a tired-looking backhand into the net to give Alcaraz victory and a 17th tour title, the Spaniard roaring “vamos” as the crowd rose to its feet.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov completed a giant-killing run to the Dallas Open title on Feb 9, defeating Norway’s fifth-ranked Casper Ruud 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 for his third career ATP crown.

The unseeded Shapovalov became only the fifth player since 2020 to knock out the three top seeds on the way to an ATP title, and just the fourth player since 2009 to beat three top-10 rivals on the way to a 250- or 500-level title.

He ousted two home favourites earlier, dispatching world No. 4 Taylor Fritz in the second round and ousting ninth-ranked defending champion Tommy Paul in the semi-finals. AFP