Carlos Alcaraz equalized his tally with Rafael Nadal in terms of their indoor hardcourt title wins after defeating Alex de Minaur at the 2025 Rotterdam (ABN AMRO) Open. The Spaniard defeated his Australian opponent in a nail-biter 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal won the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid in 2005 against Serbian Ivan Ljubicic in a five-set thriller. This was the only indoor hardcourt title win of his entire career at just 19 years of age.
After his win over de Minaur, the 21-year-old beamed with pride on his maiden indoor and Rotterdam triumph.
“This title is special because it is the first one indoors and I have shown that I can play well on this type of court,” he said during the post-match trophy ceremony.
Alcaraz also elaborated on how this win gave him a lot of confidence. He hopes to work harder and keep making progress to rack up more wins on the hardcourt.
“I’m happy because I knew I had the level to play well in these conditions. There are players who have a better game indoors, but I’ve managed to beat players like them and that gives me a lot of confidence. My best level will also come on this surface, I have to work on improving what I’ve trained for.”
This title is ought to provide Alcaraz a boost in momentum after his heartbreak at the 2025 Australian Open.
Carlos Alcaraz bounces back from Australian Open heartbreak with Rotterdam triumph
Carlos Alcaraz entered Rotterdam Open as the first seed. He had a brief scare in the opening round when he was taken to the decider by hometwon hero Botic Van de Zandschulp.
His next two wins came in identical fashion with the Spaniard showing his true quality with 6-2, 6-1 wins over Andrea Vavassori and compatriot Pedro Martinez. Alcaraz faced another tough assignment in the semifinals when he squared up against Hubert Hurkacz, the eighth seed.
In a see-saw battle, Alcaraz emerged victorious in a nine-game third set, booking his place in the final. He managed to clinch a glorious win in the final against Alex de Minaur and said (via The Tennis Letter on X):
“This week I wanted to focus on being mentally strong even if I had downs during the match, to keep fighting and to keep moving forward despite everything. This tournament has helped me a lot with that.”
It can be safely said that Carlos Alcaraz has bounced back after a devastating Australian Open quarterfinal loss to 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
