Alcaraz overwhelms De Minaur in Vienna to finish unbeaten at ATP 500s
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Sunday, completing an unbeaten run across ATP 500 events and extending his winning streak at that level to 26 matches.
The Spaniard needed 97 minutes to secure the victory, claiming his fourth title of the season and the 28th of his career after winning all five of his matches in Vienna without dropping a set; he had already captured ATP 500 titles in Doha and Tokyo this year and improved his 2026 record at that level to 16-0.
Alcaraz took control early in the final, breaking de Minaur in the opening game and quickly moving to a double-break lead as the Australian struggled with the Spaniard's aggressive groundstrokes, wrapping up the first set 6-1.
De Minaur resisted more strongly in the second set, saving break points in the second, fourth and eighth games, but Alcaraz maintained pressure and broke in the 10th game, converting his first championship point after a superb all-court rally.
The champion won 81 per cent of the points behind his first serve, finishing with 29 points from 36 first-serve deliveries, and his victory extended his head-to-head record against de Minaur to 7-0; he also remains unbeaten against Australian opponents in tour-level matches with 15 wins.
"My team and I know pretty well Alex de Minaur's level. His style is really dangerous. Really flat balls that slip a lot through the court really low. It's really difficult to increase the power that I want to in every shot and every ball. He's really fast, so you have to earn every point," Alcaraz said. "I tried to be aggressive and show him that if he wants to win, he has to play better than me, more aggressive, more solid, and be smarter than me. I'm just really happy that at the end I found my way, played great, and obviously it has been a really emotional and amazing week for me."
The Vienna triumph raised Alcaraz's total ATP 500 titles to 11, placing him fourth on the all-time list since the series began in 2009 behind Roger Federer (16), Novak Djokovic (15) and Rafael Nadal (15), with Andy Murray fifth on nine; his last defeat at ATP 500 level came against Holger Rune in the Barcelona final in April 2025.
Alcaraz will carry this form into next week's Paris Masters, having already secured his place at the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, and he heads into the closing phase of the season with a 38-5 win-loss record.
