Making his debut in the indoor tournament at the ATP Rotterdam, Carlos Alcaraz made sure that he would not disappoint in his second tournament run for the 2025 Tour. The Spanish star proved his worth as he showed off in the final against Alex de Minaur, 6-4, 3-6, and 6-2. Alcaraz slammed the door shut to beat the Australian star on the rise in the final set and did not look back.

Alcaraz stood his ground firm in the midst of a comeback attempt from de Minaur as he closed out the tournament for good, dominating the final set and securing a massive, gutsy win with surges of service aces and strong volleys to knock off the Australian in his big game. The Spanish star did not waste any time in making a strong campaign in his ATP 500 run.

Last season, Alcaraz became the first and only player to win ATP 500 titles held on clay, grass, and hard courts. With the win last Sunday, Alcaraz now adds an indoor surface to his resume and has now improved to a 17-5 overall record in all finals he has played.

Getting Back to His Groove

It can be remembered that Alcaraz fell short of scoring a win at the previous Australian Open, where he fell to his rival Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. This win in Rotterdam now marks Alcaraz’s first trophy ever since he defeated world no. 1 Jannik Sinner in the Beijing final last October 2024.

Alcaraz sank Botic van de Zandschulp in the Round of 32 in a three-set thriller right off the bat, and he would go on to beat Italian rising star Andrea Vavassori in the Round of 16 and fellow Spaniard Pedro Martinez in the quarter-final – both in straight sets. Alcaraz would the go for a promising showdown with Hubert Hurkacz, with the Spanish star emerging victorious in an intense three-set win.

So far, Alcaraz has regained his rhythm, and is optimistic with his chances of winning in the next set of tournaments – which would open up with four ATP 500 events for the rest of February, and then the Indian Wells and the Miami Open to enter March.

“This week has been a really good week all together,” Alcaraz said to his team. “Putting in really good work. Coming here not feeling 100 percent 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.

Improving Better

On the other hand, De Minaur has significantly improved his game to another level, and he now returns to his career-high of world no. 6 thanks to this deep run. The 25-year-old was unable to hold off Alcaraz, but he did show massive growth in forcing him to drop a set.

“We're pushing for bigger and better things,” De Minaur said. “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.”

Alcaraz moves to 3-0 in his head to head series with De Minaur, and all of these three games have been played in ATP 500 games. It cannot be denied that there are high expectations for Alcaraz as he felt really comfortable in the indoor tournament.