Tennis News

Garin slides into six-way tie for most Challenger titles this season

Cristian Garin joined a six-way tie for a season-leading four Challenger titles on Sunday when he won the Uruguay Open in Montevideo.

The former No. 17 ousted Peru’s Ignacio Buse 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2 in the clay-court final to secure his return to the Top 100 for the first time in 18 months. Buse would have made his Top 100 debut in the PIF ATP Rankings had he triumphed.

But the 29-year-old Garin spoiled Buse’s hopes and claimed his eighth Challenger title. His three previous trophies this year came in Mauthausen, Oeiras and on home soil in Antofagasta.

“Proud of the effort and already looking ahead to what’s next,” Garin wrote in an Instagram post reflecting on his 2025 season. “Thank you to everyone who supported me. See you in ’26.”

Garin, seeded fifth in Montevideo, rallied from a set down in his final three matches of the week. After falling to as low as World No. 214 in April, Garin is now in good position to make the Australian Open main draw.

Challenger Singles Titles Leaders, 2025

Garin was not the only former Top 25 player to triumph on the Challenger circuit this week. German Jan-Lennard Struff lifted his seventh trophy at that level with a title run at the ALL IN OPEN Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in Lyon.

Struff, who reached a career-high No. 21 in June 2023, downed British qualifier Liam Broady 6-4, 6-4 in the championship match.

<img alt=”From left to right, Liam Broady, former No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Lyon champion Jan-Lennard Struff.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2025/11/17/16/11/struff-lyonch-2025.jpg?w=100%25″ />
^{From left to right: Liam Broady, former No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Lyon champion Jan-Lennard Struff. Credit: All In Group}

Kozlov claims first title since 2021, fittingly at same tournament
American Stefan Kozlov captured his first Challenger title in four years by triumphing at the Paine Schwartz Partners Challenger — the same event he won back in 2021. The 27-year-old saved a match point in his quarter-final against Darwin Blanch and rode that momentum through the final, claiming a 7-6(3), 7-5 victory against former Arizona State University standout Murphy Cassone.

Glinka, 25, becomes third Estonian Challenger champion
Daniil Glinka became the third Estonian player (Mark Lajal, Jurgen Zopp) to win a Challenger title with his maiden title at the Challenger Banque Nationale de Drummondville. The 25-year-old lefty, who beat Canadian wild card Duncan Chan 6-4, 6-2 in the final, is up to a career-high No. 191 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Watanuki wins Kobe Challenger for third time
Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki capped a memorable week at the Hyogo Noah Challenger in Kobe, where the home favourite won the tournament for the third time. Having lifted the trophy in 2019 and 2022, Watanuki found his best level to return to the winner’s circle. The 27-year-old downed Elias Ymer 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the title match.

Bolt begins Aussie swing with home victory
A three-week Australian hard-court swing began at the Brisbane QTC Tennis International, featuring home hope Alex Bolt going all the way to the title. Bolt did not drop a set across five matches to secure his first Challenger crown since June 2021. The lefty defeated Tung-Lin Wu 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

New week, new opportunities 💯

Stream all the action LIVE ➡️ https://t.co/zdmegU414m#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/5Z0p9dLqwB

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 17, 2025

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Alcaraz claims year-end No. 1; Sinner shines & #NextGenATP stars surge

The ATP today published the 2025 year-end PIF ATP Rankings on ATPTour.com with Carlos Alcaraz finishing as ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF.

The Spaniard enjoyed a back-and-forth battle with Jannik Sinner for top spot throughout the season before ultimately securing his second year-end No. 1 honour (also 2022).

At just 22 years old, Alcaraz has now held World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for 46 weeks, more than 15 other members of the prestigious ATP No. 1 Club. He recaptured the position from Sinner after winning the US Open and, with the exception of one week, has held it since.

Alcaraz is just the second active player to secure multiple year-end No. 1 finishes, joining Novak Djokovic (8). The Murcia native won eight titles to lead the ATP Tour. It was the most he has claimed in a season in his career.

Alcaraz showed great consistency, during one stretch reaching nine consecutive finals. He emerged victorious at two majors (Roland Garros and US Open), three ATP Masters 1000 events (Monte-Carlo, Rome and Cincinnati) and three ATP 500 tournaments (Rotterdam, Queen’s Club and Tokyo).

Sinner held the top spot from the Monday after Roland Garros in 2024 through the Monday after this year’s US Open, increasing his total to 66 weeks when he recaptured No. 1 for one week ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals. Alcaraz and Sinner were the only two players to hold World No. 1 this season.

Year-end No. 1 was still up for grabs in Turin, but Alcaraz swept his three round-robin matches to clinch year-end No. 1. Alcaraz and Sinner met six times this season, with the former winning four of their six Lexus ATP Head2Head showdowns. Sinner triumphed against the Spaniard on Sunday in the championship match of the Nitto ATP Finals, marking his second consecutive victory at the season finale.

Novak Djokovic finished in the year-end Top 5 for the 17th time, breaking a tie with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most in PIF ATP Rankings history. Ending 2025 as World No. 4, the Serbian reached the 100-titles mark in Geneva and added his 101st tour-level title in Athens. Only Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) own more singles trophies in the Open Era.

Alcaraz, Sinner and Alexander Zverev were also in the year-end Top 5 in 2024. There are three players who finished the season in the year-end Top 10 for the first time: Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton and Jack Draper. All three men had never cracked the Top 10 before 2025, but each reached No. 6 or higher in 2025.

In the year-end Top 10, there are two Italians (Sinner and Musetti) and two Americans (Taylor Fritz and Shelton). It is just the second time there have been two Italians in the same season, with Matteo Berrettini and Sinner doing so in 2021.

There are two lefties in the year-end Top 10: Shelton and Draper. It is the first time more than one lefty has finished a season in the elite group since 2010 (Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco). Both Shelton and Draper cracked the Top 5, joining Nadal as the only lefties to do so this century.

2025 YEAR-END PIF ATP RANKINGS TOP 10
1) Carlos Alcaraz – Becomes one of only 11 players who have earned ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours multiple times following a season in which he claimed a career-best eight titles.

2) Jannik Sinner – Earns second straight Top-2 finish, winning two majors (Australian Open and Wimbledon), the Nitto ATP Finals, an ATP Masters 1000 trophy (Paris) and two ATP 500 events (Beijing and Vienna).

3) Alexander Zverev – Earns third year-end Top-3 finish, accomplishing the feat for the second consecutive year after finishing No. 2 in 2024.

4) Novak Djokovic – Claims 18th year-end Top 10 finish. Became just the third man to earn 100 tour-level titles and lifted multiple trophies for the 19th time in his career with victories in Geneva and Athens.

5) Felix Auger-Aliassime – Led the ATP Tour in tie-break wins (32) and deciding-set victories (20) in 2025 to return to the year-end Top 10 for the second time (also 2022).

6) Taylor Fritz – Finishes the season as the No. 1 American for the fifth consecutive year and reaches the 10-titles mark for his career with triumph in Eastbourne. Led the ATP Tour in aces with 867.

7) Alex de Minaur – Earns year-end Top 10 finish for second straight season and reaches the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. Claimed more hard-court triumphs (43) than any other player on Tour.

8) Lorenzo Musetti – Earns first year-end Top 10 finish behind a career-best season in which the Italian reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final in Monte-Carlo and made the Roland Garros semi-finals for the first time.

9) Ben Shelton – Breaks into the Top 10 in June and surges as high as No. 5, coming within one victory in Turin of finishing the year as the No. 1 American.

10) Jack Draper – Becomes the first Briton to finish in the Top 10 since Andy Murray claimed ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours in 2016. Won his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells.

2025 Year-End PIF ATP Rankings Quick Facts

• Jenson Brooksby jumped the most spots into the Top 100 of any player, surging from unranked to World No. 53.
• Reilly Opelka secured the biggest leap into the Top 50, ascending 243 spots from No. 293 to No. 50.
• 39-year-old Gael Monfils is the oldest player in the year-end Top 100 at No. 68. It is the second consecutive season in which the Frenchman has earned the distinction.
• There were two teens who finished inside the year-end Top 100: 19-year-olds Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien, the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF finalists. No. 24 Fonseca won the first two ATP Tour titles of his career in Buenos Aires and Basel. No. 28 Tien tallied a 5-3 record against Top-10 opponents in 2025 and earned his maiden title in Metz.
• Twelve players climbed at least 100 places to finish in the year-end Top 100: Joao Fonseca (+121), Valentin Vacherot (+109), Reilly Opelka (+243), Valentin Royer (+128), Ethan Quinn (+133), Marin Cilic (+105), Filip Misolic (+242), Emilio Nava (+125), Pablo Carreno Busta (+108), Dalibor Svrcina (+135), Eliot Spizzirri (+137) and Shintaro Mochizuki (+140).
• 12 players 22-and-under finished in the Top 100. This is the 10th consecutive season in which at least a dozen 22-and-under players have achieved the feat.
• 15 players from the United States finished in the year-end Top 100, the most of any country. France was a close second with 14 after leading the Tour last year with 12.

VIEW FULL 2025 YEAR-END PIF ATP RANKINGS

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Hewitt set for father-son doubles outing at Sydney Challenger

Lleyton Hewitt will join forces with his 16-year-old son Cruz Hewitt at this week’s NSW Open, an ATP Challenger Tour event in Sydney.

A former World No. 1 who amassed 30 tour-level titles in a storied career, Hewitt is now set for a new kind of memorable moment in this father-son outing on home soil. They will open against fellow wild cards, 19-year-old Aussies Hayden Jones and Pavle Marinkov. The match time is yet to be announced.

Cruz will also compete in the Sydney singles field, marking his third Challenger main-draw appearance in his young career. The teenager is No. 759 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Fans can stream all ATP Challenger Tour matches for free on Challenger TV. Stay tuned to ATP Challenger Tour social media for updates regarding when the Hewitts will play their first-round match.

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Fuel for the Future: Inside the mindset driving #NextGenATP stars

“Nerves are opportunities.”

That’s the lesson Martin Landaluce carries into every match, and it’s a mindset that perfectly captures the spirit of the new generation.

As the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF approach, Landaluce, Justin Engel and Federico Cina are proving that what fuels tomorrow’s stars isn’t luck or raw talent, but the inner tools they’ve built: discipline, joy, connection and the belief that pressure can push you forward.

Landaluce claimed his second ATP Masters 1000 main-draw win in Cincinnati in August and added a second ATP Challenger Tour title to his resume one month later in Orleans, France. The results lifted him into strong contention to reach Jeddah and showed a maturity well beyond his 19 years. It’s a maturity that begins off the court.

“I like doing a lot of things outside of tennis that help me mentally. Reading, breathing exercises, meditation,” Landaluce recently told ATPTour.com. “Those things help me stay focused on court. I try to rely on discipline more than motivation. A lot of people think motivation comes first, but for me, discipline comes first and that brings motivation.

“You start doing something, and as you get better, you start enjoying it more. That’s where the motivation comes from.”

The Spaniard began training at the Rafa Nadal Academy when he was 14 and has been able to gain valuable insight from the 22-time major champion and former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. At the same time, he also began working with a psychologist, a combination that helped shape his understanding of pressure and helped him view nerves as a sign of growth rather than fear.

“That’s helped me mature a lot, not just as a tennis player, but as a person,” Landaluce said when asked about working with his psychologist. “One big thing is learning that nerves are actually good. They mean you care. Nerves are opportunities.

“You also have to learn to manage pressure, whether it’s from winning a big tournament, from your country, your club, or expectations others put on you. That’s a lot for someone who’s 16, 17, or 18 years old. Psychology has helped me stay calm, block out the noise and not get caught up in the negative side of things like social media or criticism. It’s helped me focus on what really matters.”

Landaluce’s commitment to discipline is a thread that also runs through the rise of Germany’s Engel, another standout in this year’s PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah.

Engel’s 2025 season has been defined by breakthrough progress, most notably his inspired run on home soil in Stuttgart. The then-17-year-old became the second-youngest player since 1990 to win a tour-level match on all three surfaces after Nadal. In October, Engel overcame fellow Next Gen contender Cina in a tight final to capture his first ATP Challenger Tour title.

Watch Engel reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final in Stuttgart:

Despite the milestones, Engel remains grounded, built around simple rituals and a deep sense of dedication.

On the road, he finds balance through connection.

“When I have to do nothing, I call my friends and we talk for almost two to three hours,” Engel said, and on match days, he sticks to the same familiar routine: “I always eat the same thing in the morning… six eggs.”

But like Landaluce, the foundation of Engel’s rise is discipline.

“I always say it’s not about motivation, just about discipline,” the 18-year-old added. “I try to give my best. Of course, sometimes it’s good to have motivation, but it’s not important. You just need to be dedicated, to be professional and just do your thing.”

As Engel continues his rise, Cina has carved out his own impressive path in 2025, building steadily on his early-season breakthrough. The Italian earned his first tour-level win at the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami and has also reached three ATP Challenger Tour finals this year.

For Cina, staying level-headed is just as important as pushing forward. Away from the court, he finds his balance in the familiar comforts that keep him connected to home.

“I’m usually quite relaxed, even before big matches,” said Cina, who reached the US Open semi-finals as a junior in 2023. “I like to chat with my friends, maybe video call them because I don’t see them much. I like traveling and flying, but I also miss home. Still, it’s my job and I love it, so I have to do it.”

<img alt=”Federico Cina” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2025/11/17/15/08/cina-miami-2025-next-gen.jpg” />_{^{Federico Cina maid his tour-level main-draw debut in Miami. Photo: Peter Staples/ATP Tour.}}

The long season has brought its challenges, but the 18-year-old approaches it all with a calm perspective, aided by the support of his father and former professional, Francesco Cina.

“Recently I was a bit sick at a tournament, and this hasn’t been a great period,” Cina admitted. “I’m also a bit tired after the season, but my coach and my dad remind me to keep enjoying practice. Keeping that spirit is very important, and the results will come. We talk about sport. I love my football so that helps me switch off from tennis.”

Cina’s calm contrasts with one of the most defining ideas Landaluce carries with him, a mantra passed down from his father and one he returns to when the pressure spikes.

“There’s one mantra my dad always told me on court: ‘You’re alone. Help yourself win’,” Landaluce said. “It’s simple, but powerful. In tennis, you’re out there alone. There’s no team like in football, it’s just you. You have to manage your emotions, your decisions, your pressure, everything, by yourself.”

It’s a reminder that while each player on the road to Jeddah has their own rituals, rhythms and sources of energy, the heart of their journeys is the same. Whether through discipline, friendship or joy, they’re learning to rely on themselves and to use every moment, even pressure, as fuel for what comes next.

This is the fourth feature of our Next Gen ATP series Next in Line. Read our other stories here:

Wimbledon dreams, Nishikori’s run & Vinci’s courtside lessons: Next Gen stars share memories

Next Steps: How Tien, Basavareddy & Engel are making the leap
Learning from Legends: Nadal, Cilic & Ram inspiring #NextGenATP stars

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Sinner vs. Alcaraz final breaks Italian TV record with 6.7 million viewers

The Nitto ATP Finals title match between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday became the most-watched tennis broadcast in Italian television history.

Over 6.7 million viewers watched on linear TV alone, with the combined total across linear and digital reaching 7.008 million. Sinner defeated Alcaraz 7-6(4), 7-5 and successfully defended his Turin crown — surpassing the previous national record of 6.6 million set during Sinner’s final showdown with Novak Djokovic at the season finale in 2023.

The moment. The champion.@emirates | #EmiratesFlyBetterMoments | #partner pic.twitter.com/C1RTNGzNHM

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 16, 2025

The new benchmark not only underscores Sinner’s status as a national sporting icon but also the surging momentum behind tennis viewership in Italy, helped by the likes of fellow stars Lorenzo Musetti, Flavio Cobolli and Luciano Darderi.

Sunday’s final was the latest instalment of the fast-growing rivalry between Alcaraz and Sinner, the top two players in the PIF ATP Rankings. It marked their sixth meeting in 2025, which have all come in finals, including in the past three majors.

Sinner, who trails Alcaraz 6-10 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, extended his indoor winning streak to 31 matches, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. His last defeat in these conditions came to Djokovic — the previous most-watched tennis broadcast in Italian television history.

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Auger-Aliassime jumps into Top 5 following Turin SF, Mover of Week

The ATP Tour season came to a thrilling conclusion on Sunday night at the Nitto ATP Finals, where Jannik Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz to lift the trophy in Turin for the second consecutive year.

For the final time this year, ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the PIF ATP Rankings, as of Monday 17 November.

No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime, +3 (Career High)
The Canadian has surged into the Top 5 for the first time in his career. Auger-Aliassime earned victories against Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev at the Nitto ATP Finals to reach the semi-finals.

Auger-Aliassime was at No. 27 in the PIF ATP Rankings in August but held a 21-6 record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, since the US Open. The 25-year-old, who married wife Nina in September, advanced to the semis in New York and then the quarter-finals in Shanghai. He won his third title of the season in Brussels and enjoyed a final run at the Rolex Paris Masters.

No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, +1
Musetti ends the season at No. 8, having started 2025 at No. 17. The Italian earned a dramatic three-set win against Alex de Minaur on home soil in Turin during the round-robin stage. Musetti went 45-22 in 2025, highlighted by his final appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo.

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ATP & Nitto Denko Corporation extend landmark partnership through 2030

The ATP and Nitto Denko Corporation have today announced a multi-year extension of their highly successful partnership. Nitto will continue as Gold Partner of the ATP Tour through 2030, and Title Partner of the Nitto ATP Finals, ATP’s season-ending event.

As Title Partner of the Nitto ATP Finals since 2017, Nitto has been instrumental in elevating the ATP’s flagship tournament, set to take place in Italy for the next five years. Over the past eight editions, Nitto has helped welcome more than a million fans on site, playing a pivotal role in the event’s success – first in London, and since 2021 in Turin.

_{^{The 2025 Nitto ATP Finals trophy ceremony. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour}}

Nitto will maintain prominent visibility across on-court and in-venue touchpoints at the event, including in the Fan Village, where fans can engage directly with the brand and the theme of sustainability.

Guided by its ambition to be a top ESG company, Nitto continues to drive innovation at the Nitto ATP Finals, pioneering a range of social and environmental initiatives. Highlights include the Nitto ATP Finals Innovation Summit, an annual conference bringing together thought leaders to explore solutions to sustainability challenges, and the Nitto ATP Finals Torino Green Project, a collaboration between Nitto, FITP, and the City of Turin, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and promoting environmental sustainability within the host city.

Nitto has also invited children and families from U.G.I. ODV, a Turin-based charity supporting children with cancer, to attend matches and walk hand-in-hand with the players onto court.

Eno Polo, ATP CEO, said: “Nitto has been our trusted partner for almost a decade now. Their commitment to the Nitto ATP Finals has helped make it what it is today – a world-class experience for both fans and players. Their impact doesn’t stop there – they’ve fully embraced sustainability, leading the way in building an event that drives real, positive change. We’re proud to keep working with a partner equally invested in pushing our sport to new heights.”

Hideo Takasaki, Nitto President and CEO, said: “We are pleased to announce to our stakeholders the continuation of our title sponsorship of the Nitto ATP Finals. Since the inception of our partnership in 2017, we have consistently supported players striving for excellence, recognizing parallels with our own Global Niche Top™ strategy. Furthermore, the players’ bold pursuit of challenges has fostered a culture of taking on challenges within the Nitto Group, transcending organizational boundaries, and has served as a profound source of inspiration. We remain committed to drive to further growth and hope this tournament continues to deliver amazement and inspiration to fans around the world.”

Beyond the Finals, Nitto will continue to benefit from year-round brand exposure across the ATP Tour’s digital and social platforms and on-court visibility during medical timeouts through dedicated branding for ATP physiotherapists.

Further expanding its footprint in tennis, Nitto also becomes an Official Partner of the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, an ATP 500 event held in Tokyo.

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Cahill, Vagnozzi break down the serve secrets behind Sinner’s Nitto ATP Finals win

Even in the midst of a standout 2025 on the ATP Tour, Jannik Sinner and his team knew that improvements were always possible.

The Italian crowned his season in style on Sunday night in Turin, where he overcame his great rival Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to successfully defend his title at the Nitto ATP Finals. A key feature of Sinner’s trophy run at the prestigious season finale was his serve, and his coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi later reflected on the recent work they had done with that aspect of the World No. 2’s game.

“For sure after the US Open we saw some issues, especially with the serve,” said Vagnozzi at Inalpi Arena after Sinner’s 7-6(4), 7-5 final triumph. “We changed the motion. We changed the rhythm. He served really well from Shanghai until here. Today in the second set he struggled a little bit.

“I think Carlos changed his position on the second serve, changed something on the serve of Jannik also. The second set he started to serve too slow. This also changed the rhythm from the first set. On the serve, we changed a lot of things after the US Open. We are lucky to have Jannik, who is really fast to improve, to understand the changes and everything.”

Sinner had reached the championship match at all four majors in 2025 prior to the changes Vagnozzi spoke of, lifting the trophies at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, making it somewhat surprising that his coaches felt tweaks were even needed. But Cahill emphasised the need to work on what he called ‘the most important’ shot in tennis.

“You have control over one shot in tennis, and that is the serve,” said the Australian. “Jannik and Simone have done some incredible work over the last four or five weeks to rejig the serve and find that rhythm and tempo where he has been able to up the first-serve percentage.

“It is not just that about the first-serve percentage. If we were really concerned about the first-serve percentage, we would let him slow the serve down to let him get more first serves in. He’s actually pumped up the miles per hour, and he is getting the ball closer to the line, which means he gets a lot more free points. They’ve done a wonderful job with that.”

Time for a team photo with a special guest 🐶😅 @janniksin | #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/NAoSRQ5xFA

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 16, 2025

The results since certainly prove Cahill’s theory. After his final defeat to Alcaraz in New York, Sinner lifted ATP 500 titles in Beijing and Vienna, an ATP Masters 1000 crown in Paris, and the Nitto ATP Finals trophy. The 24-year-old has finished his season with a 58-6 record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Sinner’s Turin victory against Alcaraz, in which he saved a set point in the first set and rallied from 1-3 to clinch the second, reduced his Lexus ATP Head2Head deficit against the Spaniard to 6-10. Vagnozzi was delighted with the way his charge had held his nerve in front of thousands of adoring home fans.

“It was a really emotional match. Really tight match,” said the coach. “I think both of them, they had periods when they played really good, and sometimes they made some mistakes. We saw Jannik always fighting with a good attitude, with a good face. He always believed, also in the second set when he was a break down, couldn’t change the direction of the set.

“We are really happy about Jannik’s performance. I think there is still something to work on also after this win, the match showed something that we can try to make better. But I’m really happy how we finished the season with unbelievable three tournaments in a row. We are pumped to start next season.”

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Defiance, energy, new heights – Sinner keeps Alcaraz on a leash

After losing two Grand Slam finals and the number one crown to his great rival, Jannik Sinner again shows Carlos Alcaraz how he can bounce back from adversity.

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Alcaraz reflects on Sinner following Nitto ATP Finals clash: 'He always comes back stronger'

Carlos Alcaraz was full of praise for his great rival Jannik Sinner following their latest battle on Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals. Although the Spaniard fell to the Italian in the Turin title match, he was encouraged by his performance and acknowledged the difficulty of facing Sinner indoors.

“I thought at the beginning of the match that I could beat him, that I could compete against him here,” Alcaraz said of Sinner, who has now won his past 31 indoor matches. “It didn’t surprise [me] at all that I was really close. It was just about the tennis. I’m just really happy with the performance that I did today. I’m pretty sure that it’s going to keep growing, my level on indoor courts.

“I felt the improvements of Jannik. I said many times, I think a player like him, he always comes back stronger from the losses. He always learn from the losses. Once again, he has shown everybody that he did it. Especially in the serves, putting so much pressure on you. It’s really difficult to play against him.”

Alcaraz had beaten Sinner in the US Open final in September, but the 24-year-old responded with authority in Turin, lifting the year-end trophy for the second straight season and narrowing his deficit in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series to 6-10.

The final was tight throughout. Alcaraz received a medical timeout for a hamstring issue at 5-4 in the opening set and had his upper right leg taped, but the World No. 1 stressed that the problem didn’t affect his play.

“I felt something in my hamstring after trying to catch one serve,” Alcaraz said. “I could say that it didn’t affect me too much because I could run well, I could go to the balls well. [There were] thoughts about how [it] is going to be if I do crazy things that I’m used to doing, how is it going to be. Those thoughts were in my mind sometimes. But I could play well.”

Alcaraz upped his aggression and moved forward more frequently in the second set and gained a break advantage before Sinner pegged the 22-year-old back and then turned the tide again to seal victory.

“I didn’t change the plan because of the injury. I changed it because I felt that I had to do something else,” Alcaraz said on his tactical tweaks. “I’m trying to be as aggressive as I can on court every match, but especially I think even more against Jannik. Every time that I can, just trying to go forward.

“It worked because I was a break up. I was serving well. That game, I think at 3-2. I was up in the game. I made a few mistakes that I didn’t have to make. In general, I think it was a great plan that I did today. That’s why I’m really happy with the level and the performance that I did today, because I think I did not do too many things wrong, which is great.”

After going 3-0 in the round-robin stage, Alcaraz received the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF trophy on court in the Inalpi Arena. The 22-year-old is now 71-9 on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and has claimed a Tour-leading eight titles in 2025, including majors at Roland Garros and the US Open and ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Monte-Carlo, Rome, and Cincinnati. The Spaniard is set to conclude his season next week at the Davis Cup Finals.

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