After a career-best season, Carlos Alcaraz started his Nitto ATP Finals campaign in fitting fashion – with a long-awaited opening victory.
The top seed on Sunday eased past Alex de Minaur 7-6(5), 6-2, fueling his quest for a maiden crown at the prestigious season finale. Alcaraz, who had fallen in his two previous opening matches in Turin to Alexander Zverev (2023) and Casper Ruud (2024), seemed determined to rewrite the script, even if he had to overcome a nerve-wracking first set test in the process.
First match under your thumb! ?@carlosalcaraz kickstarts his 2025 #NittoATPFinals campaign with a straight sets victory over De Minaur pic.twitter.com/6qqfQMniGY
— ATP tour (@atptour) November 9, 2025
“This tournament is without a doubt one of the best tournaments we have on Tour,” Alcaraz said. “We are playing against the best players in the world, which shows how difficult and important it is. I have struggled in recent years to end the year motivated. This year it is slightly different, which I am proud of [as] I’m doing the right things to give myself a chance to win this tournament.”
Alcaraz impressed the crowd at the Inalpi Arena early on with his shots on his way to a 4-1, 40/0 lead in just 25 minutes. Yet that advantage quickly slipped away as De Minaur hit back and forced Alcaraz into a thrilling tie-break. However, the top seed settled down, coming to a stop twice after a mini-break-down and taking four consecutive points from 3/5 to eventually take the set.
Although Alcaraz’s 21 winners were accompanied by 19 unforced errors in the opener, he maintained his bold aggression throughout the second set. The big Spaniard again established a healthy lead, but this time he held back his unforced errors and raced through the finish line to improve to 5-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with De Minaur.
“It was a very difficult match,” Alcaraz said. “On this surface Alex makes the most of the speed of the ball, he is super fast and very difficult on the return. I am just very happy to have overcome this very difficult challenge, and happy with how I am playing [going into] the next matches.”
With his one hour and forty minute victory, Alcaraz also strengthened his quest to become ATP Year-End No. 1 for the first time since 2022. 1 to claim, presented by PIF honours. He now needs 250 points in Turin to secure honors over rival Jannik Sinner, with each round-robin win worth 200 points.
Alcaraz will look for victory again on Tuesday when he takes on Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti in the Jimmy Connors Group. According to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, he has 68 wins and eight trophies leading the Tour in 2025.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
#Alcaraz #hits #range #Minaur #starts #Nitto #ATP #Finals #bid