Carlos Alcaraz off to winning start at ATP Finals after beating Alex de Minaur

– Top seed Carlos Alcaraz began his bid for a first ATP Finals trophy with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over Australian Alex de Minaur in their round-robin clash at the season-ending championships in Turin on Nov 9.

Alcaraz won his opening ATP Finals match for the first time despite de Minaur’s battling display, where the Australian recovered from 4-1 down to force a tiebreak in the opening set before the Spaniard came out on top.

“It was a really difficult match,” said Alcaraz. “On this surface, Alex makes the most of the speed of the ball, he’s super fast and really difficult on return. I’m just really happy to get through this really difficult challenge and happy with how I’m playing.”

The pair traded breaks of serve at the start of the second set, but Alcaraz broke twice more to again lead 4-1 and this time there was no comeback despite de Minaur’s valiant effort in the opening match of the Jimmy Connors Group.

Both players were looking to improve on their 2024 showing, where Alcaraz lost two of his three round-robin matches in straight sets while de Minaur lost all three group matches, with Alcaraz losing the opening match at his previous two appearances.

Alcaraz is also on course to end 2025 as the world No. 1, and in Turin he must reach the final with at least one round-robin win or sweep his round-robin matches to guarantee himself the award for the second time.

Italian Jannik Sinner needs to retain his title to have any chance of finishing the year in top spot. Later on Nov 9, German two-time champion Alexander Zverev took on American Ben Shelton, making his first ATP Finals appearance, in the Bjorn Borg Group. That match took place after press time.

The ATP Finals, which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams in the world, has a record prize pool of US$15.5 million (S$20.2 million) and offers 1,500 points.

Earlier, seven-time ATP Finals champion Novak Djokovic withdrew from the tournament due to a shoulder injury, hours after winning his 101st title at the Hellenic Championship. Finalist Lorenzo Musetti will replace him in Turin, after Djokovic beat the Italian 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Nov 8. It was his second title of 2025, following his Geneva clay victory in May.

“I was really looking forward to competing in Turin and giving my best,” Djokovic posted on social media. “But after today’s final in Athens, I’m sad to share that I need to withdraw due to an ongoing injury.”

Djokovic also missed the 2024 season-ender with injury, having won his seventh title in 2023. The 38-year-old said he had been dealing with the injury throughout the tournament in Athens. “That’s the reason why I decided not to make a call – would I go to Turin or not – earlier because I wanted to see how the matches go, how I react,” he told reporters.

“After yesterday’s match, I was hoping that it was not going to flare up. But then today, even before the match, it was not great. I had to take all the strong medications to be able to play the match. I felt there’s no chance for me to go through the entire tournament in Turin with the required level of tennis when you’re playing the best eight in the world.”

The Serb is one of just three men to have racked up a century of titles – he still needs two to equal Roger Federer’s 103, while Jimmy Connors heads the list with 109.

Musetti, who needed to beat Djokovic to overtake Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime to qualify for the tournament, will replace Djokovic in the Jimmy Connors Group, with Alexander Bublik now the first alternate.

This marks the first time that two Italian singles players have qualified for the same edition of the ATP Finals, and is Musetti’s first appearance.

Meanwhile, American teenager Learner Tien won his first title on the last day of the ATP regular season, beating Briton Cameron Norrie 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) at the Moselle Open in Metz on Nov 8.

“I will remember this title and this tournament for a very long time,” said the 19-year-old Tien.

After reaching his first final in early October in Beijing, where he lost to Sinner, Tien broke his duck against Norrie, who was also the losing finalist in Metz in 2024 to France’s Benjamin Bonzi. REUTERS, AFP

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