De Minaur cruises into Rotterdam final

ROTTERDAM: Australia´s Alex de Minaur eased into the Rotterdam Open final on Saturday, bringing to an end the extraordinary giant-killing run of Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci with an entertaining straight-sets win.

De Minaur was too consistent for the error-prone Bellucci, who was unable to repeat his earlier heroics against Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, going down 6-1, 6-2.

The Australian will face the winner of tonight´s semi-final between top seeded Carlos Alcaraz from Spain and Poland´s Hubert Hurkacz.

“I´m very happy with the level today,” said De Minaur.

“He´s been playing with a lot of confidence this whole week, so I knew it was going to be a very tough battle,” added the third-seeded Australian.

Bellucci was playing his first ATP 500 semi-final but showed few nerves at the start, delighting the crowd with a trick shot winner through his legs in the very first game.

But a missed smash, an unforced error, and a double-fault gifted De Minaur an early break, and the Australian raced into a 3-0 first set lead.

A second break followed, as De Minaur´s trademark retrieving wore down the Italian. The Australian clinched the set 6-1 with a powerful forehand winner.

De Minaur also broke early in the second set, as Bellucci drifted yet another forehand wide.

Bellucci managed to hold serve at 5-2 but De Minaur wasted little time wrapping up the match, the Italian sending a backhand groundstroke long, his 30th unforced error.

Runner-up last year to world number one Jannik Sinner, De Minaur has enjoyed comfortable passage to the final, winning all his matches in straight sets.

“The Dutch crowd always treats me very well, and I love coming back here. So hopefully I can get a title this time,” he said.

Alcaraz races into Rotterdam semis, Tsitsipas falls

Spanish tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz hurtled into the Rotterdam Open semi-finals on Friday with a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 win over compatriot Pedro Martinez.

The world number three, bidding to become the first Spaniard to triumph in Rotterdam, will next face Hubert Hurkacz of Poland for a spot in Sunday´s final.

Eighth-seeded Hurkacz defeated Andrey Rublev, the Russian fourth seed, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4. “I´m really happy with my performance today. I think I played at a really high level. No ups and downs in the match, which is something I´m really focused on,” Alcaraz said.

“It is always tough playing Pedro, so I knew I had to be really focused from the first ball to the last,” he added.

It was the first time the two Spanish players had met on the professional tour and Alcaraz showed the gulf in class between himself and Martinez, ranked 41 places below him.

He wasted no time in stamping his authority on the match, breaking the Martinez serve in the first game.

A second break followed quickly. Alcaraz wrapped up the first set with an ace.

The pattern repeated itself at the start of the second set. Martinez was the architect of his own downfall, losing his first service game with a double fault and a wild forehand.

Another unforced error from Martinez handed Alcaraz his second break of the set in the fifth game, which also featured the best rally of the match, both players covering all corners of the court.

Alcaraz wrapped up the match with yet another break, finishing off his opponent with a whipped crosscourt forehand, his 29th winner, in just over an hour.

“With every match I play, I´m improving. Hopefully, I can end up the week with the trophy,” said Alcaraz.

Earlier Friday, Stefanos Tsitsipas became the latest victim of an extraordinary run by Mattia Bellucci, as the Italian qualifier marched into the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 upset.

World number 12 Tsitsipas never got to grips with Bellucci´s left-handed serve and combination of flat backhands and heavy top-spin forehands, interspersed with well-disguised drop shots.

“At the beginning of the week, I would have never expected this result,” said Bellucci, 23, who had never before reached the semi-final of an ATP 500 event.