Carlos Alcaraz Reaches First Indoor Hardcourt Final On Rotterdam Debut
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Carlos Alcaraz will play in his first final on indoor hardcourts after beating Hubert Hurkacz in the semi-finals of the 2025 Rotterdam Open.
Alcaraz is a player who hasn't done too well on indoor hardcourts in the past. In fact, the young Spaniard has barely played in such conditions in the past, which is why he never reached the final on the hardcourts indoors.
That changed at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam. Alcaraz entered the event as the top seed after Jannik Sinner's withdrawal, but that didn't mean he was the top favorite.
There were other players who thrive in the indoor hardcourt conditions in the draw, such as Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz. And it was the Polish player who he took on in the semi-finals of the event.
Hurkacz previously beat Flavio Cobolli, Jiri Lehecka, and Andrey Rublev at the event. Alcaraz, on the other hand, overcame Botic van de Zandschulp, Andrea Vavassori, and also compatriot Pedro Martinez.
The two have met three times before, and every time, it was the Spanish player who won the match. Hurkacz wanted to change that in Rotterdam, and he started perfectly. The Polish player won eight of the first nine points.
He led 3-0 and 40-30 on his opponent's serve, and despite not using that break point, Hurkacz was up 4-1 and 40-0 a couple of games later.
But miraculously, Alcaraz not only saved those three break points, but he broke his opponent's serve twice to completely turn the first set around. The top seed went from 1-4 and 0-40 down to win the first set of this match 6-4.
Hurkacz knew he should have won the first set of the match. That's also maybe why he faced three break points in the first game of the second set. But the Polish player didn't give up so easily.
He saved all three of those break points, and after both players served flawlessly, a tie-break had to decide the second set. Once again, both served very well, but that was until 4-4.
Hurkacz lost his serve, and Alcaraz had two balls in his hand, leading 5-4. That meant the Spaniard could have ended the match with two precise and powerful serves, but that didn't happen.
The ATP World No. 3 player played three very bad points, and as a result, he lost the tie-break of the second set 5-7.
But Alcaraz wasn't shaken by that. He started the third set in the best possible way. The 21-year-old won the first nine points, and there was no coming back from that for his opponent.
Alcaraz didn't face a single break point in the third set. He served very well, and after two hours and 23 minutes, the Spaniard won the match 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 to reach his first indoor hardcourt final.
His opponent in the final will be the third-seeded Alex de Minaur, who easily cruised past qualifier Mattia Bellucci in his semi-final match.
