He said: "Let me start off with Carlitos. Well done to you and your team. It's great to have you back on tour. I know all the fans appreciate it. I will say one thing, though. It is very annoying to play against you.

"But as I said many times, you're one of the good ones, one of the great guys on tour, so thank you very much, an amazing week."

Alcaraz, meanwhile, said: "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.

"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.

"I learned a lot, to keep going forward, step by step, playing on indoor courts, and trying to gain more confidence playing on this surface."

Alcaraz was in full control from the very start of the match, breaking De Minaur's serve in the first game as the Aussie struggled to deal with his intensity.

De Minaur improved in the second set but in spite of his greater resistance, he was unable to prevent Alcaraz from cruising to a one-sided victory.

Both players will now head to France for next week's Paris Masters, where Alcaraz will face either Jiri Lehecka or Alex Michelsen in his first match.

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