Alex de Minaur leaves tennis world in awe in 'insane' scenes in Rotterdam Open final

Alex de Minaur may not have won the Rotterdam Open final against Jannik Sinner, but the Aussie star certainly won plenty of admirers around the tennis world. Sinner continued his dominance of de Minaur on Sunday night, taking his perfect record against the Aussie to 7-0 with a 7-5 6-4 victory.

But the straight-sets result wasn't a true reflection of the battle that ensued, with de Minaur producing a stunning level against the most in-form man in tennis. De Minaur showed why he's now risen to a career-high ranking of World No.9 as he pushed the Australian Open champion all the way.

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Tennis fans and commentators were left gobsmacked when de Minaur won an incredible 34-shot rally to break Sinner's serve and level the first set at 5-5. The Aussie sent his opponent all over the court and showed some of his trademark defence, with Sinner left sprawled on the ground on his back after being wrong-footed to finally end the point.

"That was a jaw-dropping exchange," one TV commentator said. "And one that has foiled the Italian."

Unfortunately for de Minaur he was broken straight away as Sinner took the first set 7-5. The Italian completed the victory with another break in the second, taking his record to 12-0 so far in 2024.

Sinner has now won all seven of his meetings with de Minaur in their careers, but the Aussie could hold his head high for the way in which he matched it with the new World No.3. The title triumph has seen Sinner rise to the highest ranking for an Italian male player in tennis history.

"I am really proud with the level that I played throughout this whole week," Sinner said after the match. "We have been in tough situations but we handled it the right way. We will always try to improve, it is the most important."

Tennis world blown away by Alex de Minaur performance

Tennis fans and commentators were full of praise for de Minaur's performance against the Australian Open champion, who is the most in-form player in men's tennis right now. "I asked him jokingly if he's going to lose a match this year," the runner-up said in the presentation. "He's playing an incredible level and just too good. I'll get you back next time."

The loss was just de Minaur's third of the year after a blazing start to 2024. Heading into the Australian Open he beat Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev at the United Cup, before taking down Carlos Alcaraz in an exhibition match.

In Rotterdam he got revenge over Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals after the Russian beat him in the fourth round at the Australian Open. He also avenged his loss to Grigor Dimitrov at this same event last year when he blitzed the Bulgarian in the semis.

His stunning form has ensured de Minaur will be World No.9 when the rankings are updated on Monday - a new career high. He'd broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career in the lead-up to the Australian Open, but dipped back down to No.11 with his loss in the fourth round at Melbourne Park.

By reaching the top 10 he became the first Australian man to do so since his mentor Lleyton Hewitt back in 2006. De Minaur has been working closely with his Davis Cup captain of late, and explained after the Dimitrov win: "This is my standard now, this is what I've got to bring every single time I walk on the court.

"I think I made a big step in the right direction, showing the type of tennis I can play, week in, week out. I think I've raised the bar a little bit and hopefully there's plenty more to go."

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