Alcaraz breaks his ceiling

Fernando Murciego | 9 Feb 2025 | 17.38

Carlos Alcaraz, champion at the ATP 500 in Rotterdam 2025. Source: Getty

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In his first time at the ATP 500 in Rotterdam, his first indoor title. Carlos Alcaraz and his team must be happy with the result obtained this week in the Netherlands, where they traveled burdened by not having conquered any trophies in the past four months and where they come out more than strengthened for the upcoming months. Alex De Minaur tried, but the reality is that the Australian never came close to causing an upset, not even when he secured the second set (6-4, 3-6, 6-2). With this victory, the player from Murcia opens his trophy cabinet this season and puts an end to that goal that had been marked in red for several calendars: to win his first trophy under indoor conditions. The best way to seal his journey to Rotterdam and to regain the smile for the upcoming challenges.

Whenever Alcaraz lands in a new final, no matter how long it has been since the last one, it is inevitable to give him excessive favoritism. The opponent doesn't matter, the conditions don't matter, even if it's a tournament he had never played before, one played under the worst conditions for his game. Rotterdam posed a real challenge for the Murcian at the beginning of the week, until we saw him passing each test with flying colors, even toppling a giant like Hurkacz on the crucial day of the semifinals. On the other hand, we tend to underestimate De Minaur a little for this type of matches, a dangerous thought forgetting that the Australian is currently living the best moment of his career and is fighting to be in the top 5 worldwide. These were the ingredients leading up to the clash, now we'll tell you what actually happened.

The first set was as expected, in fact, all predictions came true. Alcaraz, from the start, showed his superiority by achieving the first break and slightly pulling away on the scoreboard. De Minaur, whom I have tremendous respect for his values and work ethic, reacted in time to level the match again and remind everyone that in a final anything can happen, especially when two players currently residing in the top 10 face each other. To tilt the balance, it would be necessary to give everything in the crucial games, from 4-4 onwards. That's where the Murcian tightened the screws on his opponent again to regain the service break and then seal the set with his serve. It may seem easy, but it takes a lot of confidence to put this theory into practice.

The second set had little to do with the first, a moment when the player from Sydney relieved some pressure and started being more aggressive, moving forward, even dominating on more than one occasion one of those players who tend to be uncontrollable. Alex excelled, maintaining an early break to get inside Carlitos' head and neutralize all his momentum. The Murcian, clearly affected by the change in trend of the match, showed a blackout that he ended up paying for with a well-deserved 6-3. With everything tied, we headed to the third set with that strange feeling that Alcaraz matches sometimes reflect. If he had everything under control, how is it possible that he suddenly loses control?

I don't know. Maybe being only 21 years old makes it very difficult for him to stay focused all the time. Perhaps De Minaur had a lot to do with the match going awry in the second set. The conditions also do not favor the Murcian much. Some say that tennis is tighter than ever, that there are no easy opponents anymore. We can search for all the reasons in the world, the point is to see what happens in the last set, the last game, the last point. And there, fortunately, it's almost always the same person smiling. Our Carlitos Alcaraz, who once again took control of the ship to win his first title of the season, the first indoors.

SPANISH TENNIS' NEW CONQUEST

Title number 17 in Carlos Alcaraz's record, breaking the tie with his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, but at the same time avenging him two decades later. It was the Valencian who was the first Spaniard in history to reach the final in Rotterdam, where he fell in 2004 to his archenemy Lleyton Hewitt. Rafa Nadal came very close in 2009, but he also couldn't beat an imperial Andy Murray in these encounters. Today, February 9, 2025, Spanish tennis can be proud of conquering a new place. Carlitos took care of raising our flag high, demonstrating that we still have many battles to win.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Alcaraz rompe su techo

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