Top seed Carlos Alcaraz launched his bid for a maiden ATP Finals trophy, securing a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over Australia's Alex de Minaur in their round-robin clash in Turin on Sunday. The win marked the first time Alcaraz has won his opening match at the season-ending championships, a crucial step as he battles rival Jannik Sinner for the year-end World No. 1 ranking. The Spaniard must reach the final with at least one round-robin win, or sweep his three group matches, to guarantee the top spot for the second time.
The opening match of the Jimmy Connors Group saw Alcaraz provide his usual brilliance racking up 32 winners but also enduring a turbulent first set. Alcaraz raced to an early 4-1 lead but allowed the advantage to slip away as De Minaur, clawed his way back to force a tiebreak. Despite De Minaur leading the tiebreak 5-3, Alcaraz locked in mentally, reeling off the next four points to snatch the tight first set.
The second set began with a flurry of breaks, with Alcaraz securing two to again lead 4-1. This time, there was no comeback from the Australian. The big-hitting Spaniard maintained his aggressive style while containing his unforced errors, racing through the finish to improve his perfect record against De Minaur to 5-0 in their head-to-head series. Alcaraz confirmed he felt motivated and fresh late in the season, telling reporters: "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."
In the day's later match in the Bjorn Borg Group, German two-time champion Alexander Zverev produced a serving masterclass to defeat American debutant Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(8-6). Zverev did not face a single break point in the match, finishing with an impressive 81% first-serve percentage. However, he had to rally dramatically in the second-set tiebreak, saving three set points after trailing 6-3, to secure the straight-sets victory and advance.
The tournament, which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams, boasts a record prize pool of $15.5 million and offers 1,500 points to the winner. Alcaraz, who will next face either Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti in the round-robin stage, currently leads the Tour with 68 wins and eight trophies this season. The season-ending championships in Turin are widely tipped for a final showdown between Alcaraz and defending champion Sinner, who needs to retain his title to have any chance of finishing the year in top spot.
