De Minaur Anchors Rotterdam as ATP Tour Spans Continents

The ATP Tour ignites across three continents this week, hard courts echoing in Rotterdam and Dallas while Buenos Aires basks in clay’s red embrace. Alex de Minaur headlines the ABN AMRO Open, his speed primed for the indoor swiftness that has carried him to finals in 2024 and 2025. Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz fuel American fire at the Nexo Dallas Open, both ATP 500 events demanding quick adjustments post-Australian Open, as Joao Fonseca and Francisco Cerundolo vie for glory at the IEB+ Argentina Open, an ATP 250 where youth meets experience on slower bounces.

De Minaur probes Fils in Rotterdam opener

De Minaur opens against Arthur Fils, a clash where the Australian’s retrieval game meets the Frenchman’s aggressive rushes, his low slices forcing errors on the enclosed hard. At 26, fresh from quarterfinals at the Australian Open last month, he eyes a third straight final here, channeling counterpunching depth to blunt Fils’s heavy topspin forehands. The top seed’s focus sharpens early, as any lapse could invite the 21-year-old’s comeback momentum from a back injury that sidelined him since August.

Felix Auger-Aliassime strides in with his eighth indoor title from Montpellier, the 2022 Rotterdam champion’s big serve booming against return pressure. He recalls that triumph’s rhythm, now blending flat groundstrokes with net approaches to navigate a draw laced with redemption arcs. Alexander Bublik, the 28-year-old who claimed four titles last season and a Hong Kong crown to enter the top 10, faces Hubert Hurkacz first—his unorthodox spins testing the Pole’s steady one–two patterns in a battle of erratic brilliance versus power.

Daniil Medvedev rebounds from a fourth-round Australian Open exit, his 2023 Rotterdam win fueling a push for a second 2026 trophy after Brisbane. The 29-year-old’s elastic defense absorbs indoor pace, deeper returns key to neutralizing big servers like those in his potential path. Stefanos Tsitsipas marks his eighth appearance, drawing on the 2022 final’s intensity to rediscover baseline flow amid post-Melbourne tweaks.

Shelton unleashes power in Dallas heat

Ben Shelton, 23 and riding his third Australian Open quarterfinal, dives into the Nexo Dallas Open with 2024 semifinal echoes, his lefty serve thundering through 1–2 combinations that wrong-foot returners. The medium-slow hard rewards his inside-in forehands, but sustaining that Melbourne fire demands mental steel against post-major dips. Taylor Fritz, stung by a fourth-round Melbourne loss, seeks his first 2026 title in his fourth Dallas bid, sharpening net play since his Eastbourne success last June.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina chases his debut Tour trophy after four finals lost last year, his all-court fire needing cleaner margins—slice approaches disrupting rhythms on this surface. Grigor Dimitrov debuts here, building fitness post-Brisbane first-round win, his one-handed backhand slicing openings if he tempers aggression. Tommy Paul, the 2024 champion, joins Learner Tien, Frances Tiafoe, Brandon Nakashima, Alex Michelsen, Sebastian Korda, and two-time winner Reilly Opelka in bolstering American depth, their serves pressuring the draw’s outsiders.

In doubles, Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski arrive high from their Australian Open title, Harrison’s 2025 Dallas win with Evan King adding poise against top seeds Marcelo Granollers and Horacio Zeballos. Net poaching and lob counters will quicken points, the duo’s synergy amplifying partnership edges under the schedule’s grind. Dallas’s open-air tempo balances power with placement, setting up rankings shifts for those who adapt fastest.

Fonseca defends amid Buenos Aires fire

Joao Fonseca returns as defending champion at the IEB+ Argentina Open, the 19-year-old’s 2025 victory crowning him the youngest South American titlist since 1990, now top 35 and wielding heavy topspin loops in humid rallies. The clay’s grip tests his baseline tenacity, especially against Francisco Cerundolo, the 27-year-old runner-up last year and in 2021, whose flat drives and underspin pull wide in grinding exchanges. A repeat elevates Fonseca further, while Cerundolo eyes breakthrough hardware on home soil.

Luciano Darderi extends his clay streak—all four ATP titles from Cordoba, Marrakech, Bastad, and Umag—his topspin consistency thriving in Buenos Aires’s slower tempo, down-the-line passes punishing loose shots. Sebastian Baez, the 25-year-old Argentine with six of seven titles on dirt, hungers for ATP 250 glory amid the crowd’s roar, his compact strokes forcing high-bounce battles. Matteo Berrettini debuts, reviving six clay trophies dormant since July 2024 through kick serves and forehand bombs that pierce psychological walls.

Doubles infuses singles flair: Cerundolo teams with Francisco Comesana for poach setups, Darderi pairs with Tomas Martin Etcheverry for crosscourt volleys, challenging top seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni. Clay’s demands forge focus across formats, where Buenos Aires’s passion rewards grinders building unbreakable resolve. From Rotterdam’s enclosed speed to Dallas’s balanced punch and Buenos Aires’s red-dirt endurance, this week’s pivots hint at rankings realignments, early titles forging paths to the majors’ unforgiving glare.