41 year tennis record set by Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors has been equaled after the first round in Rotterdam
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The first round of the 2025 Rotterdam Open has come to a close, with fans eagerly anticipating the next round of matches.
After a short break following the conclusion of the Australian Open, tennis has returned, as the very best of the ATP Tour compete in Rotterdam.
The Rotterdam Open features four top-ten stars; Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur, and Andrey Rublev.
The tournament is the first at ATP 500 level this year, as players search for valuable points during the early stages of the season.
With the stakes high, big names often falter in the opening rounds, although that doesn’t seem to be the case this time around.
All eight seeds advance to the Rotterdam Open second round for the first time since 1984
For the first time in 41 years, all eight seeded players in Rotterdam have won their first-round matches.
- [1] Carlos Alcaraz beat Botic van de Zandschulp
- [2] Daniil Medvedev beat Stan Wawrinka
- [3] Alex de Minaur beat David Goffin
- [4] Andrey Rublev beat Zhang Zhizhen
- [5] Holger Rune beat Lorenzo Sonego
- [6] Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Harold Mayot
- [7] Arthur Fils beat Constant Lestienne
- [8] Hubert Hurkacz beat Flavio Cobolli
They didn’t have it all their own way, however, as three of the eight seeds; Alcaraz, Medvedev, and Arthur Fils, needed a third set to book their place in the last 16.
Alcaraz beat Van de Zandschulp in a three-set thriller on Tuesday, as he took down the man who knocked him out of last year’s US Open, 7-6, 3-6, 6-1.
Never in Rotterdam Open history have all eight seeds advanced to the quarter-finals, although they stand a real chance of doing so in 2025.
Only Hubert Hurkacz, the Polish eighth seed, is set to face a top-40 opponent in the second round, as his rivals will be confident of making their way through to the quarter-finals.
| Seed | Seed’s name | Second round opponent | Opponent’s ATP rank |
| 1 | Carlos Alcaraz | Andrea Vavassori | 317 |
| 2 | Daniil Medvedev | Mattia Bellucci | 92 |
| 3 | Alex de Minaur | Jakub Mensik | 47 |
| 4 | Andrey Rublev | Fabian Marozsan | 57 |
| 5 | Holger Rune | Pedro Martinez | 44 |
| 6 | Stefanos Tsitsipas | Tallon Griekspoor | 43 |
| 7 | Arthur Fils | Daniel Altmaier | 93 |
| 8 | Hubert Hurkacz | Jiri Lehecka | 24 |
The second round of the Rotterdam Open gets underway on Wednesday, February 5.
What happened at the ‘unfinished’ 1984 Rotterdam Open?
2025’s top seeds matched the stars of the 1984 Rotterdam Open by making it through to the second round in the Netherlands, but what happened 41 years ago?
- [1] Ivan Lendl – F
- [2] Jimmy Connors – F
- [3] Kevin Curren – QF
- [4] Eliot Teltscher – QF
- [5] Johan Kriek – 2R
- [6] Gene Mayer – QF
- [7] Tomas Smid – 2R
- [8] Anders Jarryd – SF
Unsurprisingly, the top two seeds advanced to the final, as Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors proved to be a class above.
However, what followed was a unique event that will live long in the memory of those in attendance 41 years ago.
Lendl had won the first set of the final 6-0, and broke early in the second before the match was abandoned.
The ‘Ahoy Arena’ had received an anonymous telephone bomb threat, which police took seriously, as they evacuated the stands and searched the venue.
No bomb was found, but the match wasn’t resumed, leaving the 1984 Rotterdam Open without a champion.
Neither Connors nor Lendl won in Rotterdam again, as the pair missed out on a golden opportunity to add another trophy to their glistening collection in 1984.
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