Sinner still on fire, defeats De Minaur for Rotterdam title

Jannik Sinner improved to 12-0 in 2024 and 7-0 against Alex de Minaur when the Italian won the ABN AMRO Open final 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday afternoon. Sinner won the Australian Open last month and he has now won three ATP 500s in a row dating back to last fall in Beijing and Vienna.

Sinner was already 14-1 lifetime in total sets against De Minaur heading into Sunday, so the outcome was no surprise.

That being said, De Minaur made things difficult for the most recent first-time Grand Slam champion. The Aussie broke back with Sinner serving for the opening set at 5-4, but another deuce game at 5-5 resulted in what proved to be a decisive break for the Italian. A similar story transpired in the second. two. Sinner broke, got broken back, and broke again for 4-3.

At that point the world No. 4 (world No. 3 on Monday) finally produced routine holds at 4-3 and 5-4 to clinch the trophy.

“I felt like the match was really good in one way,” Sinner commented. “We both played well. I felt like I could have served a little bit better, but these are the details that maybe in the future can make me a little bit stronger also. An amazing week it has been.”

“What you’ve done not only this week but this whole year is great to see, and it couldn’t happen to a better guy,” De Minaur told his nemesis during the trophy ceremony before joking, “I’m not too sure” about the prospect of the Italian losing a single match in 2024.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.