Top seed Carlos Alcaraz began his quest for his first ATP Finals trophy with a 7-6(5) 6-2 victory over Australian Alex de Minaur in their round-robin clash at the season-ending championships in Turin on Sunday.
Alcaraz secured his opening ATP Finals match for the first time despite De Minaur’s determined performance. The Australian fought back from a 4-1 deficit to force a tiebreak in the opening set before the Spaniard ultimately prevailed.
EPIC from Alcaraz 😨😳🔥🤯 pic.twitter.com/hjZVo7vXPq
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 9, 2025
The pair exchanged service breaks at the start of the second set, but Alcaraz broke serve twice more to lead 4-1. This time, there was no comeback, despite De Minaur’s valiant effort in the opening match of the Jimmy Connors Group.
Both players aimed to improve on their performances from last year, where Alcaraz lost two of his three round-robin matches in straight sets, and De Minaur lost all three group matches. Alcaraz had previously lost the opening match in his last two appearances.
Alcaraz is also on track to end the year as world number one. In Turin, he needs to reach the final with at least one round-robin win or win all his round-robin matches to secure the top ranking for the second time.
Italian Jannik Sinner must retain his title to have any chance of finishing the year in the top spot.
Later on Sunday, German two-time champion Alexander Zverev will face American Ben Shelton, who is making his first ATP Finals appearance, in the Bjorn Borg Group.
The ATP Finals, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams in the world, has a record prize pool of $15.5 million and offers 1,500 points. The tournament culminates with the final at the Inalpi Arena in Turin on November 16.
