Carlos Alcaraz says he has entered the ATP Finals “with motivation” as he moved a step closer to the year-end world number one ranking with victory over Alex de Minaur.
The 22-year-old Spaniard won his opening Jimmy Connors Group match 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in one hour and 40 minutes in Turin, Italy.
Alcaraz is making his third appearance at the season-ending tournament but has never reached the final before.
He withdrew injured in 2022, lost in the semi-finals on debut a year later and failed to qualify from the group last year.
Alcaraz is battling rival Jannik Sinner for the top ranking, with the Italian moving back to the top spot after his victory at the Paris Masters last week.
“I’ve been struggling in the past three years to come to the end of the year with energy and motivation. This year is a little bit different,” Alcaraz said.
“I’m really proud about the way I’ve been doing things to come here with motivation.
“I’m really excited and looking forward to playing great tennis, and giving myself a shot to try to win this tournament.”
In the Bjorn Borg Group, two-time winner Alexander Zverev produced a serving masterclass to beat American debutant Ben Shelton 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
The 28-year-old German lost only one of 17 points on serve in the first set and 10 of 54 across the match, finishing with a 81% first-serve percentage.
Australian Open finalist Zverev did not face a break point in the match but had to rally from 6-3 down in the second-set tie-break to advance.
He also pounced on Shelton’s second serve, winning 16 of 21 points off the return.
“I knew against Ben that I had to have a very high first-serve percentage, because he’s so aggressive on the second serve,” Zverev said.
“I knew that would be one of the key factors today and I’m super pleased with this win.”
Alcaraz edges closer to number one spot
World number two Alcaraz provided his usual moments of shot-making brilliance against De Minaur, hitting a total of 32 winners, but he was scrappy at times in the first set.
Alcaraz raced to an early lead but missed three break points for a 5-1 advantage – and then found himself two points from losing the opener in the tie-break.
De Minaur’s trademark fight took him to the brink of winning the set but, leading 5-3 in the breaker, lost the next four points to concede it.
Set two began with three consecutive breaks of serve, two of them in favour of Alcaraz, before a run of three sensational winners in a row put Alcaraz firmly in charge.
Despite defeat for De Minaur – who has not beaten Alcaraz in five attempts – the 26-year-old Australian should take confidence from his performance against the six-time Grand Slam champion.
Taylor Fritz and Lorenzo Musetti, a late replacement for Novak Djokovic following the Serb’s decision to withdraw on Saturday, are the other two players in the Jimmy Connors Group.
Alcaraz and defending champion Sinner have split the four Grand Slam titles between them this year.
They are in different groups and are widely tipped to meet in the final on Sunday, 16 November.
This is what each has to do to end 2025 as world number one:
- Alcaraz will secure top spot by reaching the final, or winning all three of his group matches.
- Sinner must defend his title to stand any chance, while also requiring Alcaraz to lose a group match and not reach the final.
In the doubles, British top seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool – who won the Wimbledon title in July – lost 7-5 6-3 to Italian duo Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.
Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina earlier beat Germany’s defending champions Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-4 4-6 10-6.
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