Imperious Alcaraz crushes dogged De Minaur in Vienna final

VIENNA: Carlos Alcaraz completed an unbeaten season in ATP 500-level events when he cruised past Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-4 in the Vienna Open on Sunday.

Alcaraz closed out the victory on his first match point on De Minaur's serve, in 1 hour and 27 minutes to beat the Australian for the seventh time in as many meetings.

De Minaur battled hard.

He took seven games in the first set to deuce but only won one.

In the second set, De Minaur, who entered the final on a ten-match indoor unbeaten streak, saved break points in three of his first four service games. Alcaraz forced the break he needed in the 10th and final game.

"His style is really dangerous," said Alcaraz.

"He's really fast, so you have to earn every point. You might hit a winner against everybody, except him. I had to be really focused on that."

"I tried to be aggressive and show him that if he wants to win, he has to play better, more aggressive, more solid, and be smarter than me."

Alcaraz did not drop a single set in five matches in Vienna as he claimed the 28th title of his career.

The victory followed his title in Tokyo four weeks ago.

Alcaraz also won in Doha in February before he was sidelined for almost five months with a wrist injury. All three 500 titles came on hard courts

The seven-time Grand Slam champion made his return to the courts at the US Open in New York, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Alcaraz said his form in Vienna had been encouraging.

"Obviously it has been a really emotional and amazing week for me. I learned a lot, to keep going forward, step by step, playing on indoor courts, and trying to gain more confidence playing on this surface," he said. - AFP