Jannik Sinner sees off Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to defend ATP Finals title

On his favourite surface and before a rowdy home crowd, Jannik Sinner closed out his immense season with a statement victory against his great rival Carlos Alcaraz, putting together a supreme performance to defeat the Spaniard 7-6 (4), 7-5 and successfully defend his title at the ATP Finals in Turin.

Despite his season being slightly abbreviated because of his three-month doping ban, and Alcaraz seizing the year-end No 1 ranking with a legendary year of his own, Sinner finishes 2025 with six titles, a 58-6 win-loss record and three of the five biggest titles in the year.

Sinner is also, without doubt, the dominant player on indoor hard courts. The Italian has now won 31 consecutive matches on the surface dating back to the starring role he played in Italy’s Davis Cup triumph in 2023. At 24 he is the youngest man to defend an ATP Finals title since Roger Federer in 2004 and just the second man after Novak Djokovic to win this title consecutively without dropping a set.

Perhaps most importantly, Sinner struck back after absorbing so many difficult blows in his rivalry with Alcaraz this year. While Sinner has compiled an 85-2 record against the rest of the field dating back to last August, he had lost seven of his past eight matches against Alcaraz, his only victory coming in the Wimbledon final. He will head into the new season having levelled the playing field against his biggest rival.

The final months of Sinner’s season, which ends with three titles and a 15-match winning run, have underlined the Italian’s work ethic and desperation to improve. Immediately after his defeat by Alcaraz at the US Open, Sinner was transparent about his beliefs that he needed to make significant changes to his game in order to tackle Alcaraz’s unique brand of unpredictable variety.

He has spent the past few months carefully working in more drop shots and net forays into his game. After a dire serving performance in New York, Sinner made adjustments to his service technique and this week those improvements played a decisive role in this victory. In the face of Alcaraz’s net forays deep in the first-set tie-break, Sinner continued to think clearly under pressure and the significant risks he took behind his second serve on key points paid off.

With so much expectation and tension, the two men know that there is simply no room to ease into their encounters. They burst into the match serving precisely and eviscerating the ball in their desperation to take the first strike, their combined intensity and quality so much higher than any other match this week. Not even a 10-minute break because of a medical emergency in the crowd, with the spectator eventually being escorted out while conscious and moving, slowed their rapid momentum.

Jannik Sinner (left) and Carlos Alcaraz shake hands after the match. Photograph: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

After one hour of relentless first-strike tennis, it looked like Alcaraz might set himself apart with his variation. At 6-5 on Sinner’s serve, he followed up his first drop shot of the match, a perfectly timed winner, with an intelligent foray to the net to reach set point. Sinner responded immediately, firing down a spectacular winning 116mph second serve to scupper the Spaniard’s opportunity before serving brilliantly to force a tie-break. At the end of a monumental 79-minute set, Sinner played with clarity, executing two brilliant lobs over a net rushing Alcaraz to seal the set.

Midway through the first set, Alcaraz had pulled up with tightness in his right hamstring before receiving a medical time out. His hamstring was taped up before the second set. Although Alcaraz broke serve early in set two, remaining solid in an erratic Sinner service game, he clearly lacked his usual explosiveness with his forward movement.

An even bigger problem for Alcaraz, however, was his desperate rival across the net. As the wild Italian crowd chanted Sinner’s name, the occasion inspired the most expressive version of the Italian, who is usually so composed in the biggest moments. He celebrated epic points by cupping hands to his ears or raising his racket high to the crowd, asking for even more noise from his captive audience. He refused to let the opportunity pass him by, nervelessly shutting the door on Alcaraz in two immense sets to end his season with a perfect result.