The six-time Grand Slam champion wants to add the season title to his collection and wrest the world number one ranking from defending champion Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz faced a tenacious De Minaur, who tested the Spaniard in his opening match of the tournament’s group stage.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz broke his Australian counterpart in the fourth game of the first set and began to assert himself, almost doing it again in the sixth. But De Minaur fought back bravely and saved three break points to hold serve.
This encouraged the Australian as he broke back in the next game before holding serve again to level things at 4-4.
The first set was ultimately decided with a tiebreak, with Alcaraz taking the win after a 3-5 setback.
The match continued to falter in the second set, with the Spanish ace getting the break of serve in the opening game.
But again, De Minaur refused to take it lying down and immediately broke back to return to the status quo.
Not to be outdone, Alcaraz produced a stunning forehand winner down the line and broke De Minaur’s serve for the second time in the set before clinging to a 3-1 lead.
A combination of pinpoint back and forehand winners down the line gave Alcaraz his third consecutive break and took full control of the match.
Alcaraz then saved a break point to hold serve, moving one step closer to winning his opening match in his third appearance at the ATP Finals.
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