Sinner a winner again as he powers to Rotterdam Open crown

Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner powered to his first Rotterdam Open title on Sunday, breaking down a determined defensive effort from Australia's Alex De Minaur to win 7-5, 6-4 in a high-quality battle.

The win extended the Italian top seed's unbeaten streak to 15 -- including his run to glory in Melbourne -- and takes him to a career-high third in the world rankings.

"We have done a really good job some weeks ago and now we did a very, very good job here," said Sinner, referring to his Australian Open triumph.

"I'm really proud of my level that I played throughout this whole week. We have been in a tough situation but we handled it in the right way," he added.

De Minaur, seeded fifth, had not beaten Sinner in six previous attempts but came into the match in the form of his life and went toe-to-toe with his opponent in the early exchanges.

Sinner's consistency and power off both wings eventually pierced De Minaur's defence and the Italian broke serve at 2-2 after some entertaining rallies.

De Minaur broke back in the 10th game, after saving two set points with some extraordinary retrieving.

A long rally at game point left Sinner lying on the floor gasping for breath after diving unsuccessfully for a powerful backhand drive up the line from his opponent.

The confident Sinner recovered quickly and had his own break points in the next game, converting the second as De Minaur ill-advisedly left a volley that dropped on the baseline.

Serving a second time for the set, Sinner this time made no mistake, closing it out to the delight of a packed Rotterdam crowd.