TURIN.- The Spanish Carlos Alcaraz debuted in ATP Finalswhich brings together the eight best tennis players of 2025, with a resounding 7-6 (7/5) and 6-2 victory against the Australian Alex de Minaur this Sunday in Turin (northwest Italy).
With this victory, Alcaraz has two wins remaining in the Masters tournament to finish the year at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, regardless of what his Italian rival does. Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz’s next rivals in the Jimmy Connors group will be the Italian Lorenzo Musetticlassified at the last minute due to the resignation of Novak Djokovicand the American Taylor Fritz.
As a starter of Mastersthe Inalpi Arena in Turin brought together the two tennis players with the most victories of the season: 68 for Alcaraz (counting this Sunday’s) and 55 for Miñaur, who still has not beaten the Spaniard in the five meetings between them.
“Without a doubt this is one of the best tournaments on the circuit. We played the best in the world, which shows how difficult and important it is,” Alcaraz declared after the game.
“On this surface (hard indoors), Alex makes the most of the speed of the ball, he is super fast and very difficult to subtract, so I am very satisfied to have overcome this complicated challenge,” he added about his rival.
Alcaraz admitted that he faces the end of the season differently from previous campaigns: “I have been fighting in recent years to reach the end of the year with motivation. This time it is a little different, which I am proud of because I am doing the right things to give myself a chance to try to win this tournament,” which he has never won.
First set played
De Miñaur stood up to Alcaraz in the first set, despite the fact that the Spaniard was the first to take the lead after breaking his rival’s serve in the fourth game and going 4-1 on the scoreboard.
But the Australian, of Uruguayan and Spanish origin, rallied and forced the tie break, where he ended up losing by a tight 7/5 after one hour and five minutes of relentless fighting.
With the first set in his pocket, Alcaraz offered the best version of his game. He punished de Miñaur’s service (winning 65% of the points with the rest), achieving three consecutive breaks at the beginning of the second set and closed the match with a clear 6-2 in the second set.
The first day of the Masters will be completed with the first match of the Bjorn Borg group, which will be played in the evening by the German Alexander Zverev and the American Ben Shelton.
