Carlos Alcaraz earned the year-end No. 1 ranking for the second time in his career as he defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-1 in round-robin competition at the Nitto ATP Finals on Thursday night. Alcaraz improved to 3-0 in Group Jimmy Connors by sweeping aside Musetti in one hour and 23 minutes.
Heading to Turin, the Spaniard needed three wins at any point in the event to secure first place, regardless of Jannik Sinner’s results. Sinner would have to be the undefeated champion – just like last year – and at the same time watch his main rival win no more than two games.
As it turned out, Alcaraz quickly put an end to any tension in the rankings. The 22-year-old rolled through his round-robin group losing just one set, as he preceded Thursday’s success with an outright win over Alex de Minaur and a three-set defeat to Taylor Fritz.
“Being number 1 at the end of the year is always a goal,” assured Alcaraz. “At the beginning of the year I saw number 1 very, very far away [with] Jannik wins almost every tournament he plays. But from the middle of the season until now, I [gave myself] the goal for the number 1 because I thought it was there. I had the opportunity to play great tennis in many tournaments in a row, which gave me a chance to get close to Jannik for the #1 spot.
“Then in the last three or four tournaments of the year, [I was] I fought toe to toe with Jannik for this spot and then I finally got it. To me it means everything.”
The six-time Grand Slam champion, who was also number 1 at the end of the year in 2022, will face Alexander Zverev or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals on Saturday. Sinner, who has already secured first place in Group Bjorn Borg, will face De Minaur.
De Minaur needed to win in straight sets on Thursday to give himself a chance to advance, and that’s exactly what the Australian did, beating Fritz 7-6(3), 6-3.
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