NEEDING to defend his run to last year’s final, Aussie Alex de Minaur is on the board at the 2025 Rotterdam Open. The world number eight defeated the player he may well face in the Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round later in the year in David Goffin, extending his head-to-head against the Belgian to 6-0 with a straight sets win.

Always in control of the match, the third seed in Holland won 6-2 6-4 in 97 minutes, racing through the first set in just over half an hour. Two breaks within the first five games set up the first set win, and the Australian did not drop a service game at all during the match.

Instead, de Minaur produced a tidy performance of 17 winners to 22 unforced errors, while the Belgian only managed eight winners for the match. The third seed only dropped a total of 10 points on serve in the second set – winning 17 of 20 off his first serve – as he lifted his first serve percentage to 57 after being a lowly 48 in the opening set.

That mattered little in the scheme of things, as de Minaur won 10 of 13 off his second serve in the opening set, and only faced one break point for the entire set. The victory saw him advance to the Round of 16 where he will take on talented young Czech Jakub Mensik.

The Aussie said he maximised the conditions.

“It felt slow out here, quite tough to get used to the conditions,” de Minaur said post-match. “The ball got massive… It’s a very rough surface. I’m happy with my attitude today, I did exactly what I needed to do. David is a hell of a competitor, so I knew it was going to be a hell of a battle.”

Mensik reached the second round via an impressive 6-4 6-4 triumph over Kazakh Alexander Bublik, while his compatriot Jiri Lehecka knocked out Australian Alexei Popyrin in straight sets, 7-5 6-2. In other results, top seed Carlos Alcaraz sought revenge on his second round loss at the US Open last year by defeating Dutch wildcard Botic Van de Zandschulp 7-6 3-6 6-1, while fellow seeds Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune, and another Spaniard in Pedro Martinez all stamped their second round tickets.

2025 ROTTERDAM OPEN ATP 500 – ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[1] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) defeated [WC] Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) 7-6 3-6 6-1
[3] Alex de Minaur (AUS) defeated David Goffin (BEL) 6-2 6-4
[4] Andrey Rublev (RUS) defeated Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) 6-3 6-4
[5] Holger Rune (DEN) defeated Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 7-6 6-4
Jakub Mensik (CZE) defeated Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 6-4 6-4
Pedro Martinez (ESP) defeated Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 6-3 6-2
Jiri Lehecka (CZE) defeated Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 7-5 6-2

Over in the United States, second seed Casper Ruud got himself out of trouble a couple of times in the deciding set against Australian James Duckworth to win 7-5 4-6 6-2 at the Dallas Open. Duckworth had six break points across two games – leading 0-40 – but could not convert either, with the Norwegian instead converting the two break point chances he received to close out the match in two hours and five minutes.

Ruud’s first serve was outstanding, winning 78 per cent of his points and saving seven of eight chances throughout the match. He still won 59 per cent of his second serve points and did not panic when faced with trouble. He was one of three seeds to advance through to the Round of 16 on the day alongside Americans Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton.

Paul came back from a set down to knock off compatriot and wildcard Jenson Brooksby 6-7 6-3 6-4, while Shelton ousted another Australian in Aleksandar Vukic, 6-3 6-3. The home nation could not make it three from three however, with youngster Alex Michelsen suffering a disappointing three set loss to Cameron Norrie, 2-6 7-6 6-1.

2025 DALLAS OPEN ATP 500 – ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[2] Casper Ruud (NOR) defeated James Duckworth (AUS) 7-5 4-6 6-2
[3] Tommy Paul (USA) defeated [WC] Jenson Brooksby (USA) 6-7 6-3 6-4
[4] Ben Shelton (USA) defeated Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 6-3 6-3
Cameron Norrie (GBR) defeated [7] Alex Michelsen (USA) 2-6 7-6 6-1