Rotterdam, Feb 8 (IANS): Australia's top singles player Alex de Minaur came up with a dominant performance in the Rotterdam Open, racing into the championship match of the ATP 500 event being played at the indoor hard court, winning in straight sets over qualifier Mattia Bellucci of Italy. De Minaur was rock-solid in the face of some moments of brilliance from Bellucci, who was unable to match his opponent’s consistency in his maiden ATP Tour semifinal.

With his Tour-leading 11th match win of 2025, De Minaur improved to 13-4 in Rotterdam, where he also reached the final in 2024 before falling to Jannik Sinner.

The 25-year-old third seed, who will return to a career-high No. 6 in the ATP Rankings on Monday regardless of whether he lifts the trophy, will face top seed Carlos Alcaraz or eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz in Sunday’s final.

Despite falling to a 67-minute defeat to the third-seeded Australian, Bellucci can reflect on a breakthrough week in Rotterdam. After coming through qualifying, the 23-year-old Italian defeated Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the semi-finals, ensuring he will on Monday rise 24 spots to a career-high World No. 68.

With this win De Minaur ensured he will need to win one more match to give a perfect ending to his perfect week so far in Rotterdam.

He overcame some moments of brilliance produced by Bellucci, who had made a surging run in the event to reach his maiden ATP Tour semifinal. “He’s played with so much confidence this whole week and played some incredible tennis,” said De Minaur, who is yet to drop a set after four matches this week in Rotterdam. “I knew going in it was going to be a battle and he was going to play loose, the way he has all week long.

"I just had to do my best to stay with him early and see if I could get my chances early. Then it became a little bit more of an uphill battle for him, but he has a very, very bright future ahead, as well as so many more Italians,” he added.