Italy’s tennis star Jannik Sinner secured the title at the ATP Finals for the second time in a row in the thrilling final against his great opponent Carlos Alcaraz.
The 24-year-old won 7:6 (7:4), 7:5 after some high-class rallies and put a big exclamation mark in the long-term rivalry with the Spanish world number one.
“I’m extremely happy with how I did it. That means the world to me. You have to play your best tennis against Carlos,” said Sinner after taking Alcaraz’s serve in the decisive game: “Ending the season like this is fantastic.”
For Sinner it was only the second victory in the last nine official duels with Alcaraz. However, the local hero lost the competition for number 1 in the world rankings by the end of the year against his competitor during the home tournament in Turin.
Sinner in Federer’s footsteps
The 24-year-old Sinner is the youngest player since the Swiss Roger Federer in 2004 to successfully defend his title at the prestigious tournament for the best players of the year. Sinner also extended his impressive winning streak on indoor hard courts to 31 matches.
On the court, the two exceptional talents showed why they are currently playing in a different league than the rest of the tennis world for almost all experts. In the tiebreak of the first set, Sinner particularly shone with two sensational lobs.
Right at the start of the second set, Alcaraz, who had a tape tied to his right thigh, caused Sinner’s first loss of serve in the entire tournament. With a bit of luck – an illegal double touch during the shot should have been disallowed – and skill on the break, he equalized to 3:3. Then Alcaraz gave up his last service game and Sinner was the winner after 2:15 hours.
Another medical incident in the stands
The game started with a moment of shock. After two deaths among the tournament visitors last Monday, there was another medical incident, but it was much less serious. In the first set, when the score was 2-1 for Alcaraz, the match was interrupted for around ten minutes because a woman was lying on the floor in the stands. Paramedics rushed to help. The organizers announced a little later that the woman was doing well again and had left the arena.
Alcaraz and Sinner had already faced each other in the finals of three of the year’s four Grand Slam tournaments. They each won two major tournaments in 2025 and lead the world rankings by a huge margin ahead of third-place finisher Alexander Zverev from Hamburg.