After losing the final in 2024 to Jannik Sinner and again in 2025 to Carlos Alcaraz, Australia’s Alex de Minaur has made the most of their absence in 2026 to claim his first indoor title.
The world no. 8 and top seed for this year’s tournament played his best match of the week to claim a6-3, 6-2 victory over Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the no. 2 seed.
Auger-Aliassime had just last week claimed the ATP 250 title in Montpellier. Interestingly he also took care of Stan Wawrinka and Arthur Fils on the way to his title, just as de Minaur had done in Rotterdam.
de Minaur returns to his career-high ranking of no. 6 after claiming his 11th career title.
Alcaraz and Sinner still to beat
The Australian has shown he can win titles, just not when Alcaraz or Sinner are taking part. That will be his number one goal in 2026, working out a game plan to defeat the big two in tennis.
“That’s what it’s all about: just doing my best to rise to the occasion,” De Minaur said of his final performance, in which he did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats. “As the tournament goes on, you try and find ways out of solutions and try to give yourself the best chance to play better the following day, and I did exactly that. I’m super pleased with the performance today.
“Third time lucky… I’m super stoked, super happy. It ended up being a great week here in Rotterdam. It’s a place where I always feel really good. I was just a step short in the previous years, so it feels great to finally be able to lift the title.”
Also read:
Alex de Minaur captures dramatic Washington Open title in epic comeback