Carlos Alcaraz was full of praise for his great rival Jannik Sinner after their last fight on Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals. Although the Spaniard fell to the Italian in the title match in Turin, he was encouraged by his performance and acknowledged the difficulty of meeting Sinner indoors.
“I thought at the beginning of the match that I could beat him, that I could compete against him here,” Alcaraz said of Sinner, who has now won his past 31 indoor matches. “It wasn’t surprising [me] especially that I was very close. It was purely about playing tennis. I’m just very happy with the performance I delivered today. I’m pretty sure it will continue to grow, my level on indoor tracks.
“I have felt Jannik’s improvements. I have often said: I think a player like him always comes back stronger from the losses. He always learns from the losses. Once again he has shown everyone that he has done it. Especially when serving, where you put so much pressure on you. It is really difficult to play against him.”
Alcaraz had beaten Sinner in the US Open final in September, but the 24-year-old responded with authority in Turin, lifting the year-end trophy for the second season in a row and narrowing his deficit to 6-10 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
The final was exciting all the way through. Alcaraz was given a medical timeout for a hamstring problem at 5-4 in the opening set and had his upper right leg taped, but the world No. 1 insisted the problem did not affect his play.
“I felt something in my hamstring after I tried to catch one serve,” Alcaraz said. “I could say it didn’t affect me that much because I could run well, I could go to the balls well. [There were] thoughts on how [it] will it be if I do crazy things that I’m used to doing, what will it be like. Those thoughts sometimes haunted my mind. But I could play well.”
Alcaraz stepped up his aggression and moved forward more often in the second set, gaining a break advantage before Sinner put the 22-year-old back and then turned the tide again to seal the win.
“I didn’t change the plan because of the injury. I changed it because I felt I had to do something different,” Alcaraz said of his tactical adjustments. “I try to be as aggressive as possible on the field every game, but especially against Jannik I think even more so. Every time I can, I just try to move forward.”
“It worked because I was a break-up. I served well. That match, I think at 3-2. I was in the front of the match. I made a few mistakes that I didn’t have to make. Overall, I think it was a great plan that I executed today. That’s why I’m very happy with the level and performance that I put in today because I don’t think I did too many things wrong, which is great.”
After a 3–0 win in the round-robin stage, Alcaraz was awarded the ATP Year-End No. 1 awarded by PIF trophy on the pitch at the Inalpi Arena. The 22-year-old is now 71-9 on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and has claimed eight Tour titles in 2025, including majors at Roland Garros and the US Open and ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Monte-Carlo, Rome and Cincinnati. The Spaniard will end his season next week during the Davis Cup Finals.
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