Tennis News

'Back where I belong': Auger-Aliassime proud after red-hot end to season

In August, Felix Auger-Aliassime was No. 27 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Three months later, he closed his season inside the Top 5 after advancing to the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The 25-year-old produced a blistering finish to the year, hitting a career-high ranking and establishing himself as a major force at the season-ending showpiece in Turin.

“[I feel] back where I belong. Back where I feel like I can play with more consistency,” Auger-Aliassime said on Saturday night after losing to Carlos Alcaraz. “I am really happy to be part of this tournament, to have played that way in the last few months…

“It’s great progression I’ve had this year. I’ve always believed that since I was a kid, my ambition was to win Grand Slams and be No. 1 in the world. I’ve had ups and downs, but honestly through it all, I always believed I could be there. I still believe today. Now it’s a matter of doing the right things to improve. If I do, we’ll see where that leaves me.”

Auger-Aliassime reached the semi-finals at the US Open and then enjoyed a quarter-final run in Shanghai. A title followed in Brussels and a final showing in Paris before he earned round-robin wins at the Nitto ATP Finals against Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev.

However, World No. 1 Alcaraz proved one step too far, with the 22-year-old earning a 6-2, 6-4 win to improve to 5-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“He’s serving crazy good. He did that amazingly,” Auger-Aliassime said when asked about the Spaniard. “The rest of the game has always been good. He can change directions with both shots. He puts pressure on you in a different way. You don’t know what to expect. He’s playing at a very high speed. I think that was the most challenging.”

Auger-Aliassime will head into 2026 with wife Nina by his side after the pair married in September. While he has strong support off court, the Canadian is keen to work harder than ever on it.

“Everybody’s good. I can’t just focus on these two,” Auger-Aliassime said, referencing Alcaraz and Sinner when asked about next season. “Everybody above me, below me, young guys coming up. It’s high competition every year. You can have bad luck.

“But of course when I play these guys right now, the facts are they’re a level above everyone. Yeah, I’m going to need to put some work. I’ve never been afraid of some work, so it’s all good.”

Auger-Aliassime won titles in Adelaide, Montpellier and Brussels in 2025, finishing with a 50-24 record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. It was the first time since 2022 that the 25-year-old had earned more than 50 tour-level wins in a season.

Source link

Final Preview: Alcaraz, Sinner ready for last dance of 2025 at Nitto ATP Finals

We’ve been building towards this moment for some time.

From their respective titles as emerging talents at the Next Gen ATP Finals to their Grand Slam sweep during the past two seasons, it all adds up to this moment Sunday when World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 2 Jannik Sinner face off in the Nitto ATP Finals title match (6 p.m. CET/noon ET) for the first time inside Turin’s Inalpi Arena.

As if to emphasise their dominance, Alcaraz and Sinner dropped a combined 13 games in their respective resounding semi-final wins Saturday over Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur.

Alcaraz will be looking to crown his season by adding a personal-best ninth title – and first at the season finale – just three days after claiming ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours for the second time. But he know nothing will be handed to him Sunday.
“It is great facing Jannik,” Alcaraz said, looking ahead to the final. “If it was someone else I wouldn’t mind to be honest, but it is great…I have to play my plan A if I want to beat him, if I want to win the tournament. We will both raise our levels to the top, which is great for the fans and the crowd.”

Sinner, who most recently was No. 1 for a week after winning the Rolex Paris Masters, looks to become an undefeated champion for the second straight year by winning his 10^th consecutive match in Turin and extending his indoor winning steak to 31 matches.

And this is all set against the backdrop of the game’s most captivating Lexus ATP Head2Head series, one that already is showing potential to evolve into one comparable to all-time great rivalries like Borg-McEnroe, Sampras-Agassi, Federer-Nadal and Djokovic-Nadal.

After Alcaraz claimed four of the previous five meetings this year, Sinner will enjoy the off-season a whole lot more if he ends 2025 with a meaningful slice of revenge in front of passionate home fans. 

But don’t count on Alcaraz to give the home favourite an inch in what promises to be an epic showdown expected to add an exclamation point to a memorable 2025 ATP Tour season. 

Most meetings between current or former No. 1s in a season…

At 24, Sinner is the youngest player to reach three consecutive Nitto ATP Finals title matches since Lleyton Hewitt (23) in 2004. Having held all 40 services games this week, Sinner joins Novak Djokovic (2018) as the only player to reach the final without being broken (since records were kept in 1991). The Italian last surrendered his serve (just once) to Ben Shelton in the Paris quarter-finals.

Sinner is also looking to narrow the significant 5-10 deficit in career meetings with the Murcia native. Here is a look at their five meetings in 2025…

Asked in press after his 7-5, 6-2 semi-final win over De Minaur about the prospect of playing Alcaraz in the final, Sinner showed respect for Auger-Aliassime by offering measured comments about the possible dream final against the Spaniard.

“I’m of course happy first of all to finish my season here, another final. It has been an amazing year for me. I’m looking forward for tomorrow,” he said.

“These are matches I look forward to. Also to see for me where my level really is but in the same time it’s great before the off-season to have this matchup.”

Longest indoor hard-court winning streaks

You have to go back to their first meeting at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2021 to find the only time Alcaraz and Sinner have played on indoor hard. The Spaniard won that match 7-6(1), 7-5. He also has won seven of their nine meetings on hard court, including most recently in a four-set US Open final.

How Alcaraz handles Sinner’s first serve – and how aggressive he is on second serves – could prove critical in Sunday’s meeting.

If Sinner plays to his strengths, he will lean into first-strike tennis against his great rival. According to TDI Insights data, this season against all opponents Sinner has won 57 per cent of rallies between 0-4 shots, significantly better than Alcaraz’s 53 per cent clip. Sinner enjoys a similar edge in extended rallies of nine or more strokes.

Alcaraz’s sweet spot comes in the 5-8 shot range, where he has won 57 per cent of points against all opponents this year, with Sinner winning 54 per cent of those rallies.

Topping his previous-best 65 wins and six titles in 2023, Alcaraz’s 71 wins sets him well clear of Sinner (57), De Minaur (56) and Zverev (55).

Most tour-level wins in 2025…

Alcaraz is bidding to be the first player since Andy Murray in 2016 to win nine titles in a season. Back then, the Briton defeated Novak Djokovic in the Nitto ATP Finals title match when year-end No. 1 was a winner-takes-all final showdown.

After defeating Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals, Alcaraz is now looking to become the first Spanish winner since Alex Corretja enjoyed a surprise victory in 1998 and third Spaniard overall (also Manuel Orantes in 1976).

Salisbury Chases Third Nitto ATP Finals Doubles Crown
In the doubles final (3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET), Joe Salisbury takes a personal 14-match winning streak at the tournament into battle with partner Neal Skupski against Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten.

Salisbury triumphed in Turin in 2022 and 2023 with Rajeev Ram. But did not qualify for the tournament last year. Fellow Brit Skupski is into the final at the season-end event for the first time.

Salisbury and Skupski hold a 46-21 record on the season and seek their first title of 2025 together this week. The Brits reached finals at Roland Garros and the US Open.
In Saturday’s semi-finals, Salisbury and Skupski enjoyed a 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-8 win over Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, who this week clinched Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF honours.

One year on from suffering a semi-final exit on debut at the prestigious season finale, Heliovaara and Patten marched into the final following a 6-4, 6-3 last-four victory against Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.

The 36-year-old Heliovaara, of Finland, and 29-year-old Patten, of Great Britain, will on Sunday play for their eighth tour-level title as a team, and their second indoor title of the year after they lifted the Rolex Paris Masters title earlier this month.

– Jon Jeraj provided research for this article.

Source link

What time do Alcaraz and Sinner meet in the Nitto ATP Finals title match?

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will face each other in the title match of the 2025 Nitto ATP Finals Sunday, 6 p.m. CST/12 p.m. ET.

Sunday’s match in Turin will mark their seventh consecutive meeting in a tournament final. Alcaraz won their most recent encounter at the US Open, where the Spaniard defeated Sinner in four sets to clinch the title. With the victory, he improved to 10-5 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Alcaraz is aiming to win his maiden trophy at the prestigious season finale. The 22-year-old clinched ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours by going 3-0 in the group stage matches. He holds a 71-8 record on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and will be playing in his 32nd tour-level final, chasing his ninth trophy of the year.

Defending champion Sinner is set to compete in his third consecutive final at the tournament and is on a 30-match winning streak on indoor hard courts. The 24-year-old has not dropped a set or his serve all week and is aiming to capture his sixth title of the season. The Italian has won only one of his five matches against Alcaraz this year, with his lone victory coming in the Wimbledon championship match.

Read more from Turin:
Alcaraz sets blockbuster Sinner championship match in Turin
Defending champion Sinner sinks De Minaur, returns to Turin title match
Sinner accomplishes what only Federer & Djokovic have
Final Preview: Alcaraz, Sinner ready for last dance of 2025 in Turin

Watch Extended Highlights from the semi-finals in Turin:

Source link

Sinner accomplishes what only Federer & Djokovic have

Being in the same sentence as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic is almost always a good thing. That is certainly the case this week for Jannik Sinner.

By reaching the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals on Saturday, the Italian joined Federer and Djokovic as the only players to reach the final at all four majors and the Nitto ATP Finals in the same season.

Federer did it in 2006 and 2007, before Djokovic accomplished the feat in 2015 and 2023. The common thread between those four? Federer and Djokovic won the Nitto ATP Finals on each occasion.

That is not all that Sinner has going for him at Inalpi Arena. The home favourite has proven a dominant force in Turin over the past two seasons.

Since beginning last year’s Nitto ATP Finals, the San Candido native has not lost a set in nine matches at the season finale. In 2024, he did not drop more than four games in a set.

Sinner has not lost a step at this edition of the year-end championships. The second seed has not lost serve through four matches against the best players in the world.

Since the ATP began tracking service statistics in 1991, Djokovic is the only other player who has made the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals without losing a service game, doing so in 2018. The Serbian would lose serve four times to Alexander Zverev with the trophy on the line.

Sinner will take confidence from not only his serving this week, but his extended success indoors. The 24-year-old has won 30 consecutive indoor matches, with his most recent defeat coming to Djokovic in the 2023 Turin final.

The defending champion will face rival Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday for the crown. This century only Djokovic, Federer and Lleyton Hewitt have won the Nitto ATP Finals in consecutive years. Sinner has a chance to join them.

“I’m of course happy first of all to finish my season here, another final,” Sinner said. “[It] has been an amazing year for me. I’m looking forward for tomorrow. These are matches I look up to. These are matches I look forward to.”

Source link

Alcaraz sets blockbuster Sinner championship match at Nitto ATP Finals

Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time on Saturday evening in Turin, where he ended the run of a recently resurgent Felix Auger-Aliassime to set a seismic final against his main rival Jannik Sinner.

Alcaraz received the ATP Year-end No. 1 presented by PIF trophy on Friday and celebrated that achievement by putting on a show against Auger-Aliassime. The 22-year-old was a man on a mission in front of the capacity crowd in Inalpi Arena, producing several jaw-dropping moments to earn a 6-2, 6-4 victory after one hour and 23 minutes.

“I felt like I could do everything on court,” Alcaraz said on his first-set display. “It didn’t matter if I did forehand down the line, drop shot or backhand down the line, I felt that everything was going to be in. I think that confidence helped through the whole match, pushing him to the limit, pushing him to do something different and I am happy that I continued playing such great tennis.”

Into a Tour-leading 11th final of the year, the top seed is the first Spaniard to reach the championship match at the prestigious year-end event since Rafael Nadal in 2013. Alcaraz is trying to become the first player from his country to lift the trophy since Alex Corretja in 1998.

Alcaraz will renew his rivalry with Sinner in Sunday’s championship match, a fitting finale to an electrifying 2025 ATP Tour season. The World No. 1 and World No. 2 have dominated the year, splitting all four majors and stacking up 13 titles between them, including four ATP Masters 1000 trophies.

Alcaraz owns a 4-1 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against Sinner this season (10–5 overall), but toppling the Italian in his own backyard won’t be simple. Sinner rides a 30-match indoor winning streak and will have a roaring home crowd behind him. The first ball for the final is scheduled for Sunday at 6 p.m. CET, with both heading into the title match undefeated this week.

“It is great facing Jannik,” Alcaraz said, looking ahead to the final. “If it was someone else I wouldn’t mind to be honest but it is great. Thanks to him, I will try and approach the match in a different way. More focus and I know I have to play my plan A if I want to beat him, if I want to win the tournament, so I think we will both raise our levels to the top, which is great for the fans and the crowd.”

Against Auger-Aliassime, Alcaraz seized the first break of the match with a flash of his trademark brilliance. After a bruising crosscourt backhand exchange, the World No. 1 feathered a wicked drop shot that yanked Auger-Aliassime toward the net. The Canadian somehow chased it down and flicked a desperate pass down the line, but Alcaraz sprawled full-stretch, stabbing a volley into the open court to seal the point and lead 3-1.

The Spaniard, who dropped just a set en route to the semi-finals, dominated the opener, striking 13 winners to just two unforced errors to lead. Alcaraz was made to work hard by a resilient Auger-Aliassime in the second set, but he found the key breakthrough in the 10th game when the Canadian made four unforced errors. The Spaniard now leads Auger-Aliassime 5-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Auger-Aliassime ends the season at No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings, having been as low as No. 27 in August. In an impressive final three months of the season, the 25-year-old lifted a trophy in Brussels, reached the final at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris and the semi-finals at the US Open.

Source link

British pair hunt ATP Finals history – will it be their last match together?

Great Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski are said to be splitting as a doubles team, but they have an ATP Finals title match to play first.

Source link

Salisbury returns to Nitto ATP Finals title match with first-time finalist Skupski

Joe Salisbury moved to within one win of capturing his third Nitto ATP Finals trophy on Saturday when he teamed with Neal Skupski to overcome Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-8.

Cash and Glasspool clinched Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF honours earlier this week following their standout season that featured seven titles. However, they were unable to bookend their year with an appearance in the championship match in Turin, with Salisbury and Skupski edging a dramatic semi-final in one hour and 31 minutes.

Salisbury has now won his past 14 matches at the Nitto ATP Finals, having triumphed in Turin in 2022 and 2023 with Rajeev Ram. The 33-year-old did not qualify for the tournament last year. Skupski is into the final at the season-end event for the first time and he and Salisbury will face Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten in the final on Sunday at 3pm local time (CET).

In a tight clash, little separated the teams in the first set, with just the one break point on offer, leaving a tie-break to decide the opener. Cash and Glasspool played the more proactive tennis in the breaker and struck a few bullet returns to lead.

However, Salisbury and Skupski gained an early break of serve at the start of the second set to swing momentum their way and were rock solid on serve, winning 94 per cent of points on their first delivery in the set. The fifth seeds then edged out a nervy tie-break to reach the final.

Salisbury and Skupski hold a 46-21 record on the season, and are searching for their first title of 2025 together this week. The Brits reached finals at Roland Garros and the US Open.

Source link

Sinner keen to cap 'amazing week' with ATP Finals title

Defending champion Jannik Sinner plans to savour his last match of the season after overcoming a determined Alex de Minaur in their semi-final at the ATP Finals.

Source link

Heliovaara/Patten spoil home Nitto ATP Finals party, sink Bolelli/Vavassori for final spot

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten banished some year-old Nitto ATP Finals heartache in style on Saturday afternoon in Turin.

One year on from suffering a semi-final exit on debut at the prestigious season finale, Heliovaara and Patten this time marched to a 6-4, 6-3 last-four victory against Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori. The Finnish-British duo produced a stunning all-around display to overwhelm their Italian opponents and nullify the partisan atmosphere inside Inalpi Arena.

Finals bound 🕺🕺

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten power into the championship match in Turin, defeating Bolelli/Vavassori 6-4 6-3!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/PcIQxxiNTk

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 15, 2025

“We had to dig deep yesterday, but we were ready for this semi-final,” said Heliovaara. “I think we really enjoyed being out on court. We had more experience, and we just executed exactly what we wanted to do today.”

Patten advancing to the championship match continued Great Britain’s dominance in the doubles competition at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals. He and Heliovaara will on Sunday take on an all-British duo in the championship match: Top seeds and Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF-winning team Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, or Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski.

Heliovaara and Patten converted the only break point of the opening set at 1-1, 30/40 to move ahead in Saturday’s semi-final, while they also decisively broke serve in the third game of the second. Patten, who started the week in Turin by getting engaged to his partner Ellie Stone, served a double fault at 3-2, 40/30 to gift Bolelli and Vavassori a chance to break at Deuce deciding point, but he followed that with a nerveless lefty serve out wide to clinch the game.

That proved to be the final moment of peril for Heliovaara and Patten on serve, and the pair soon closed out for a 76-minute victory in which they finished the match having won 87 per cent (20/23) of points behind first serves, according to Infosys ATP Stats. They now hold a 3-1 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead over Bolelli and Vavassori, having also prevailed in the two teams’ Australian Open semi-final clash earlier this year.

“Lots of practice. There’s no secret really,” said Patten, when asked about he and Heliovaara’s returning performance. “They are two very good servers. We’ve struggled returning against them in the past. Sometimes you get a bit lucky as well. No secret, just lots of hard work and lots of repetitions, really.”

The 36-year-old Heliovaara and 29-year-old Patten will on Sunday play for their eighth tour-level title as a team, and their second indoor title of the year after they lifted the Rolex Paris Masters title earlier this month.

Source link

Hewett and Reid beaten in quest for record title

Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid lose an epic Wheelchair Masters final as they narrowly fail to win a record fourth title.

Source link