The 2025 men’s tennis season will conclude with a final showdown between the two best players in the world after Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz reached the final of the ATP Finals.
Sinner continued his total dominance of the indoor season as the Italian held off an admirable early challenge from Alex de Minaur before bulldozing his path into the tournament’s final for a third consecutive year with a supreme 7-5, 6-2 win, a victory that extended his winning record against the Australian to 13-0.
In the evening, Alcaraz followed his great rival’s lead by putting together an excellent performance, defeating the in-form Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4 to reach the final. This is uncharted territory for the Spaniard, who will compete in the title match of the Association of Tennis Professionals’ season-ending tournament for the first time.
Earlier this week, Alcaraz sealed the year-end No 1 ranking ahead of Sinner by rolling through his round-robin group with a flawless 3-0 record. He will attempt to close out his individual season, by far the best of his career, by winning an incredible ninth title of 2025.
No matter how things play out, this is a fitting climax to a year that has been defined by the dominance of the two rivals. Alcaraz and Sinner have split the four grand slam tournaments between them for the second consecutive year, with Sinner winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon while Alcaraz took the French Open and US Open.
Either Alcaraz or Sinner has won the last seven tournaments when both players have been present in the draw and they have faced each other in six finals this year. Alcaraz has won seven of their last eight meetings, establishing a 10-5 overall lead, meaning Sinner will be looking to definitively halt Alcaraz’s momentum in the match-up.
Sinner continues to perform at such a consistent, high level that has allowed him to rapidly rise up the list of all-time great men’s tennis players. In a season that included a three-month doping ban between February and May, Sinner will attempt to win his sixth ATP title of the year in his 10th final. The 24-year-old has won 30 consecutive indoor hard court matches and 14 matches in a row after his recent triumphs at the Vienna Open and Paris Masters. He has also won 18 consecutive sets at the ATP Finals.
“Making three times consecutive finals in Turin means a lot to me,” said Sinner. “It’s a great atmosphere, great place for me to play tennis and also a great place for me to close this beautiful season I’ve played in. Tomorrow I will enjoy, I will obviously try my best to get the best possible result but in any case, it has been again an amazing week.”
De Minaur arrived in the semi-final with few reasons to believe he could even make things difficult for Sinner, an opponent he has won just two sets against in their 13 meetings. Their form this week only further illustrated the challenge before him. While the Australian barely survived the group stages, qualifying through tie-break rules despite losing two of his three matches, Sinner eased through his group without dropping a set.
For more than an hour, however, De Minaur threw everything he could at the Italian, playing some of his best tennis of the tournament in the process. He forced himself inside the baseline, frequently having to half-volley ground strokes as he tried to maintain his court position. The Australian also served well, saving Sinner’s first seven break points as they reached 5-5, and he used his stupendous defensive skills to make the court seem as narrow as possible to his opponent.
His best efforts were far from sufficient. As has been the case every time they have faced each other, Sinner completely overpowered De Minaur with far more potent ground strokes. He also continued his own brilliant serving form during the tournament, emerging from their tight opening set having landed 82% of his first serves. With the first set secured, Sinner opened his shoulders and hit his helpless opponent off the court to reach another final in front of his buoyant home crowd.
