Jannik Sinner remains the bogey man for Alex de Minaur after beating the Australian No.1 7-5 6-4 in the final of the Rotterdam Open.
That extended the Italian's record against de Minaur to 7-0. His dominance is becoming a problem for the battling Aussie with the pair of rising stars shaping up to meet regularly in the later stages of events in the next few years.
But while the scoreboard records a straight-sets win on Sunday (Monday AEDT) de Minaur, typically, did not go quietly in a packed Rotterdam Ahoy arena.
When Sinner, at 5-4, served for the first set the Australian scraped and chased his way through a gripping 15-minute game saving four break points, before levelling the set after a 34-shot rally.
However, Sinner just composed himself and broke back, agonisingly after de Minaur decided to leave a volley that landed in. Sinner then served out for the set, finishing with an ace.
De Minaur, who will break into the top 10 for the first time next week, again recovered from an early break in the second set only to be broken again.
"I am really proud with the level that I played throughout this whole week," said Sinner, who will go to No.3 in the world.
The Australian Open winner added: "We have been in tough situations but we handled it the right way. We will always try to improve, it is the most important."
