Reuters
Carlos Alcaraz [Source: Reuters]
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain outlasted third seed Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to win the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
It marks the World No. 3’s first tournament win of the new year and his 17th ATP singles title.
In a tightly contested match, Alcaraz won two-thirds of his first-service points (34 of 51) but also 64 percent of his second serves (16 of 25). He saved 3 of 5 break points while breaking de Minaur’s serve on 4 of 8 opportunities.
It stood at 2-2 in the third set before Alcaraz broke de Minaur’s serve in the sixth and eighth games, winning on his second match point.
Dallas Open
Unseeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov took down No. 2 seed Casper Ruud of Norway 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the final in Texas.
Shapovalov won just his third career ATP singles title, but it was his second in less than four months after he broke through in Belgrade last November. It’s his first victory above the ATP 250 level; the Dallas Open is an ATP 500 event.
He fired 13 aces with just two double faults on Sunday and won 36 of 50 first-service points (72 percent). The first-set tiebreaker was knotted 4-4 before Shapovalov won three of the final four points to earn the set; he then ran out to a 4-1 lead in the second set on his way to victory.
