● Australian ends Bellucci’s run, faces Alcaraz or Hurkacz in title match
Can Alex de Minaur find a perfect ending to his perfect week so far at the ABN AMRO Open?
The third-seeded Australian on Saturday raced into the championship match at the indoor hard-court ATP 500 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Mattia Bellucci.
De Minaur was rock-solid in the face of some moments of brilliance from qualifier Bellucci, who was unable to match his opponent’s consistency in his maiden ATP Tour semi-final.
“He’s played with so much confidence this whole week and played some incredible tennis,” said De Minaur, who has yet to drop a set after four matches this week in Rotterdam.
“I knew going in it was going to be a battle and he was going to play loose, the way he has all week long.
“I just had to do my best to stay with him early and see if I could get my chances early. Then it became a little bit more of an uphill battle for him, but he has a very, very bright future ahead, as well as so many more Italians.”
With his Tour-leading 11th match win of 2025, De Minaur improved to 13-4 in Rotterdam, where he also reached the final in 2024 before falling to Jannik Sinner.
The 25-year-old, who will return to a career-high No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday regardless of whether he lifts the trophy, will face top seed Carlos Alcaraz or eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz in Sunday’s final.
Despite falling to a 67-minute defeat to De Minaur, Bellucci can reflect on a breakthrough week in Rotterdam. After coming through qualifying, the 23-year-old Italian defeated Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the semi-finals, ensuring he will on Monday rise 24 spots to a career-high World No. 68.
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