Unstoppable Jannik Sinner wins Rotterdam crown over Alex de Minaur, now 12-0 in 2024

Jannik Sinner cannot be stopped right now.

On Sunday in Rotterdam, Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur, 7-5, 6-4, to clinch his first ABN AMRO Open trophy a year after finishing runner-up. The Australian Open champion, now 12-0 in 2024, has won 15 successive matches overall and upped his perfect record against De Minaur to 7-0.

“I felt like the match was really good in one way. We both played well,” Sinner told ATP Media afterwards. “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.”

At 2-2, Sinner created the first break point of the final by working his backhand in an extensive rally to eventually hit through the scrambling De Minaur. The Aussie, who had come out trying to force the issue in getting himself to net and giving the Italian a variety of looks, undercut a forehand drop shot to drop serve.

The top seed curled a winning crosscourt backhand pass to consolidate the break from deuce. Sinner looked to be in control until he served for the set.

After saving four set points, De Minaur finally had a look at breaking serve. Sinner would get back to deuce but a points later, found himself in the same spot. The No. 5 seed’s low, deep backhand kept him in a 34-shot rally, but it was his change of direction with a forehand up the line that caught Sinner off guard and left him on his backside.

“He played an incredible game there. I missed a couple of things, but this is normal. I had to get back on the point after,” reflected Sinner.

The world No. 4 went right back to work to earn the re-break. De Minaur was twice passed twice by winning strikes, including at ad-out when he opted to let a backhand up the line fly by. There would be no let down from Sinner with the set on his racquet the second time of asking.

The tone was reset with the servers holding court early in set two, before Sinner was forced to brush off a pair of break points at 1-2. Minutes later, De Minaur found himself under pressure in a six-deuce game. A pair of unforced errors eventually undid the Sydney native—first overhitting a crosscourt approach and then netting an inside-in forehand.

It ignited three straight games for the returner. On his second opportunity, De Minaur took his backhand up the line to open up the court for a finishing net rush to get back even for 3-3, only to get broken at 15 when his backhand found the net. Three games later, Sinner closed out the hard-fought victory for his 12th tour-level crown from 16 finals contested.

Sinner has now won the last three 500-level events he’s entered, adding to 2023 triumphs at Beijing and Vienna. The 22-year-old will rise to career-high No. 3 on Monday, becoming the highest-ranked Italian in ATP history.

With his performance this week, De Minaur has also clinched a new ranking benchmark for himself with a Top 10 return at No. 9.