Just like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Siya Kolisi tasted the taste of victory in Turin on Saturday.
Kolisi, a two-time Rugby World Cup-winning captain with South Africa, led the Springboks to a 32-14 win against Italy at the city’s Allianz Stadium just as home favorite Sinner sank Alex de Minaur to book his championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals.
A few hours later, Kolisi was at the Inalpi Arena to watch Alcaraz defeat Felix Auger-Aliassime and set up a blockbuster title match with his great rival Sinner. It will be the sixth Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the two in 2025 and Kolisi, a huge tennis fan, understands the importance of the rivalry between the two.
“I’m very excited. I think it’s huge,” Kolisi told ATPTour.com ahead of Sunday’s final, scheduled for Sunday 6pm CET/noon ET. “Obviously Sinner has the home advantage here. He comes from here, but I don’t think Alcaraz will think about that because he is such a powerful player and he showed tonight what he is capable of. It will be great.”
WILD @SiyaKolisi response to meeting @carlosalcaraz for the first time???#NittoATPFinals | #Secondary school pic.twitter.com/mfRBoSdLtV
— ATP tour (@atptour) November 15, 2025
Kolisi met Alcaraz for the first time in Turin earlier this week and made no secret of his excitement as he crossed paths with the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. He has also finally had personal contact with Auger-Aliassime, with whom he has regularly exchanged messages of support via social media.
“It was the first time I saw Carlos play live and also the first time I saw Felix play live,” said the 32-year-old Kolisi after witnessing Alcaraz’s 6-2, 6-4 victory in the semi-finals. “I came to the tournament because of Felix. [He and I] have been speaking on social media and supporting each other. We had already planned a meeting, and this was the opportunity to meet each other.
“[The match] was good. It was tough. Alcaraz was very powerful today, but you cannot take away Felix’s efforts either. Alcaraz deserved the match, but Felix will get back up.”
Felix Auger-Aliassime greets Siya Kolisi at the Nitto ATP Finals on Saturday evening. Photo credit: Jack Howell/ATP tour
Auger-Aliassime is not the first tennis star Kolisi has befriended. He has been close to Roger Federer since the former world number 1 supported the Springboks in the 2019 Rugby World Cup (Federer’s mother, Lynette, is from South Africa). The rugby star quoted the Swiss when asked what he admired most about tennis players and the way they compete.
“I learned from listening to Roger Federer’s speech,” Kolisi said. “If you lose a point, you have to forget about it and move on to the next one. He says he lost a lot of points, but he won [so many] competitions. It is the ability to move on. You lose a point and then you change your mentality to win the next one. Even if you win one, you can’t dwell on it. Just move on to the next one. This mentality is so strong and powerful.”
Kolisi, who led his country to Rugby World Cup triumphs in 2019 and 2023, has since traveled with Federer in support of the Roger Federer Foundation, which supports early childhood education programs in six countries, including South Africa and Switzerland. However, their friendship does not yet extend to playing tennis together. Kolisi is willing, but unsure if his skills are at the required level to face a six-time Nitto ATP Finals champion in court.
“I tried to play tennis, but I’m bad,” Kolisi said. “I would really like to play [with Roger]. He’s doing a charity competition and I’d love to participate in it someday. I’m bad, there’s no other way to say it, but I’ll start somewhere!
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