Top seed Carlos Alcaraz from Spain and third seed Alex de Minaur of Australia are set to clash in the ABN Amro Open final on Sunday, following their respective semifinal triumphs on Saturday in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Ranked third globally, Alcaraz overcame eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in three sets, finishing 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 to secure his first indoor final appearance. Meanwhile, world number eight de Minaur had a smoother path to the final, defeating Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-1, 6-2 in a match lasting one hour and seven minutes. In his match against Hurkacz, Alcaraz faced a triple break point deficit in the opening set but rallied to win five consecutive games to claim the set. After dropping the second set, he dominated the start of the third set, securing 12 of the first 13 points to lead 3-0 and eventually win in two hours and 21 minutes. Alcaraz concluded with 39 winners and 32 unforced errors, whereas Hurkacz recorded 33 winners and 31 unforced errors. Hurkacz served 10 aces compared to Alcaraz’s five, with Alcaraz making four double faults against Hurkacz’s single fault.
De Minaur capitalised on all four break opportunities he encountered, managing to break Bellucci twice in each set while securing 78 percent (14 out of 18) of his first-serve points. Bellucci, having made it to his inaugural ATP semifinal, had previously overcome the No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev from Russia and the No. 6 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece.
In the Dallas Open, the No. 2 seed Casper Ruud of Norway is set to face off against the unseeded Denis Shapovalov of Canada in Sunday’s final after both players secured victories in their semifinal matches. Ruud, who holds the No. 5 spot in global rankings, overcame Spain’s Jaume Munar with a scoreline of 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (4). Meanwhile, Shapovalov defeated the No. 3 seed Tommy Paul from the United States in straight sets, winning 7-5, 6-3.
Munar was on the brink of closing out the match during the tenth game of the deciding set, but Ruud managed to level the score at 5-5 by breaking serve, leading to a tiebreaker. Ruud then took a 4-2 lead and maintained his advantage, eventually sealing the win with another break against Munar. As for Paul, he had an opportunity to even things up in the first set at 6-5 down, but Shapovalov broke his serve to win the set. Demonstrating strong form with six aces and successfully saving all three break points against him, Shapovalov secured another break while leading 4-3 in the second set and then served out the match for victory.
