By Trevor Stynes
TURIN, Italy (Reuters) -Italy's Jannik Sinner sent the Turin crowd wild as he battled past Spanish world number one Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(4) 7-5 in the ATP Finals title decider on Sunday to retain his trophy in the season-ending championships.
In a season defined and dominated by the rivalry between the two players, it seemed inevitable that they would meet in the title clash and both obliged by easing through the tournament unbeaten to set up one last dance in Turin.
Alcaraz forced the
only break point in the first set but Sinner held firm and brought the crowd to its feet with a tiebreak win, and sealed the match when the Spaniard was unable to hold while serving to stay in the contest.
Sinner missed out on ending the year as world number one to Alcaraz after the Spaniard won his three round-robin matches this week but the Italian won the last act of 2025, having reached the finals of all four Grand Slams this year.
Alcaraz put Sinner to the test in Turin but despite not being at his best and struggling with his service game, which had powered him past opponents all week, the Italian held his nerve.
The Spaniard had chances to take the final the distance, breaking the Italian in the opening game of the second set where Sinner hit two double faults. Yet Sinner came back to level the set at 3-3 and came through when it counted.
Sinner, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, arrived in the final on a remarkable indoor hardcourt winning run of 30 matches since losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 decider in Turin, also the last time the Italian dropped a set in the competition.
Sinner's win in Turin earned him a record $5.07 million in prize money.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Alex Richardson and Toby Davis)
