TURIN, Italy – When push came to shove, Carlos Alcaraz needed less than 90 minutes to secure the year-end No. 1 ranking in men’s tennis.
Alcaraz needed one more win at the ATP Finals to beat Jannik Sinner to No. 1 and the Spaniard duly got it as he cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Italian Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday to beat his group in the season-ending event for the top eight players.
“It means a lot to me to be honest,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “The year No. 1 is always a goal. To be honest, at the beginning of the year I saw that No. 1 was really far away, with Jannik there, winning almost every tournament he plays.
“From the middle of the season until now, I set the goal for No. 1 because I thought it was there… and in the end I got it. For me it means everything, the work we do every day all season, with ups and downs… so I’m really proud of my team and myself.”
It is the second time in his career that the 22-year-old Alcaraz ends the year at the top of the rankings.
The Spaniard became the youngest player to finish a year at No. 1 when he achieved the feat as a 19-year-old in 2022.
Alcaraz had to win three of his matches at the season-ending event for the top eight players to finish No. 1, while Sinner had to remain undefeated to defend his title to have a chance.
Alcaraz – who admitted he was nervous at the start of the match – did not give him that chance as he brushed aside Musetti despite a partisan home crowd and sealed the result on his third match point.
That was his third win in the Jimmy Connors group and Alcaraz will face the winner of Friday’s match between Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The win also sent Alex de Minaur through to the semi-finals after the Australian previously claimed a maiden ATP Finals win.
De Minaur defeated Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3), 6-3 for his first win in six matches at the tournament after making his debut last year.
“I finally won here in Turin,” said De Minaur, who needed an outright victory to stay in contention for a place in the semi-finals.
De Minaur never looked back after dominating the tiebreak and had the chance to seal victory on Fritz’s serve as he advanced to match point, but the American held on. De Minaur kept his nerve on serve to prevail.
The seventh seed will face Sinner in the last four.
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