By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, November 1, 2026
Photo credit: Screen Shot
Put a roof over Carlos Alcaraz’s head and he’ll blow the lid off the place.
A creative Alcaraz lit up the Vienna final in a lively 6-1, 6-4 dissection of Alex de Minaur today—continuing his mastery of ATP 500 events and the gritty Aussie.
It is Alcaraz’s 28th career title, including his his fifth consecutive ATP 500 championship as he stretches a spotless record in 2026 ATP 500 matches to 16-0.
Eye-popping court-coverage combined with imaginative running replies can create high-octane rallies when Alcaraz and de Minaur meet. Ultimately, Alcaraz’s all-court virtuosity—and his skill amping up the pace and rotation on his heavier forehand to ridiculous levels—fuel his dominance of this rivalry. The youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam is now 7-0 against de Minaur, including a 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 win in the Australian Open quarterfinals last January.
“I mean I know pretty well Alex’s level and his style is really dangerous,” Alcaraz said. “Flat strikes, the ball is really low. It’s really difficult to increase the power that I wanted to increase and he’s really really fast so you have to earn every point.
“You might hit a winner against everybody except for him. So I had to be really focused on that, increasing my speed, my pace in every shot and trying to be aggressive and show him if he wants to win he has to play more aggressive, more solid and be smarter than me.
“I’m just really happy at the end I found my way and just played great.”
The seven-time Grand Slam champion won his fourth title of the year—he’s the first man to win three ATP 500 level titles this season with his triumphs in Doha, Tokyo and now Vienna.
An oppressive Alcaraz denied the 27-year-old de Minaur’s bid for a 12th career championship.
The first Aussie finalist in Vienna history dropped to 46-21 on the season as he continues his quest to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.
Alcaraz served 75 percent, permitted only seven points on first serve and erased the only break point he faced in a classy performance that saw him knock off back-to-back Top 10 opponents in Daniil Medvedev and de Minaur and win all 10 sets he played in Vienna.
“Obviously, a really emotional and amazing week for me that I learned a lot to keep going forward step by step,” Alcaraz said after his second indoor title following his win over de Minaur in the 2025 Rotterdam final. “Playing on indoor court trying to gain more confidence playing on this surface.
“So I’m just really happy and looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Trading high-fives with fans as he walked onto court, Alcaraz won the coin toss and elected to receive. Though de Minaur went up 40-Love that was just a prelude to Alcaraz erupting with damaging drives.
Hammering a diagonal forehand behind de Minaur brought Alcaraz break point. Dancing around his backhand, Alcaraz slammed a forehand strike down the line breaking to open.
Applying variation, Alcaraz erased a break point with a high forehand volley to back up the break.
Though the Aussie held a game point in the first three games, Alcaraz was the one creating closure. De Minaur slapped a flat forehand into the net to face break point. Alcaraz banged a backhand pass crosscourt, breaking again for 3-0.
Disruptive forehands from Alcaraz rattled out errors from the normally rock-solid de Minaur, who was trying to red-line in rallies at times to prevent baseline pummeling.
Twenty-six minutes into the match, de Minaur stood tall through a draining deuce hold for 1-4 flashing a clenched fist to his box.
That hold strengthened the Aussie’s resolve as de Minaur rifled a backhand pass crosscourt to reach Love-30 on the Spaniard’s serve. The percolating pace of Alcaraz’s forehand—and his skill locking down and hitting clean combinations from deficits—helped him dig out a hold for 5-1.
When de Minaur tried to attack, Alcaraz answered with a backhand pass that clipped the tape and slipped in.
A lunging de Minaur saved a set point with a backhand stab volley. On the second set point, Alcaraz torched a heavy forehand drawing the error to close a commanding 37-minute set with his third break.
Even when de Minaur applied a near flawless forward attack pinning Alcaraz deep in his backhand corner, the Australian Open champion transitioned from defense to offense with the forceful fluidity of a wave crashing onto the beach.
Flicking a backhand lob that landed on the baseline, Alcaraz showed the shotmaking burst running down a drop volley and poking a backhand pass down the line. That crackling sequence spurred Alcaraz to a 2-1 hold.
Credit de Minaur for playing cleaner and more assertive tennis in the second set.
The flat diagonal forehand helped de Minaur stretch the court in his thrilling semifinal upset of new world No. 1 Alexander Zverev yesterday.
Today, while that shot strayed on him at times, de Minaur kept banging away. A clever topspin lob that a soaring Alcaraz could not control, followed by that side-spinning diagonal forehand winner sparked the fifth seed to a gritty hold leveling at 4-All.
Audacious athleticism is an Alcaraz asset. A lunging Alcaraz made a superb stab return off a sizzling return down the T earning championship point when de Minaur netted a backhand.
On championship point, Alcaraz delivered an electrifying shot-making triple play. First, he drew the Demon forward with a fluttering drop shot, then flicked a floating short lob over the Aussie’s backhand and finished painting the baseline with forehand flash to end an entertaining 87-minute match and extend his ATP 500 winning streak to 26 matches.
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