ATP Tour

Alcaraz hits his range vs. De Minaur, kicks off Nitto ATP Finals bid

After a career-best season, Carlos Alcaraz began his Nitto ATP Finals campaign in fitting fashion — with a long-awaited opening victory.

The top seed on Sunday powered past Alex de Minaur 7-6(5), 6-2 to ignite his quest for a maiden crown at the prestigious season finale. Alcaraz, who had fallen to Alexander Zverev (2023) and Casper Ruud (2024) in his two previous opening matches in Turin, looked determined to rewrite the script, even if he did have to overcome a nail-biting first-set test in the process.

First Match Under Wraps! 👌@carlosalcaraz kick-starts his 2025 #NittoATPFinals campaign with a straight sets win over De Minaur pic.twitter.com/6qqfQMniGY

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 9, 2025

“This tournament is one of the best tournaments we have on Tour, without a doubt,” Alcaraz said. “We’re playing against the best players in the world, which shows how difficult and important it is. I’ve been struggling in the past few years to come to the end of the year with motivation. This year is a little bit different, which I’m proud about [as] I’m doing the right things to give myself a shot to try and win this tournament.”

Alcaraz impressed the crowd inside Inalpi Arena early with his shotmaking en route to a 4-1, 40/0 lead in just 25 minutes. Yet that advantage quickly slipped away as De Minaur clawed back, forcing Alcaraz into a tense tie-break. The top seed settled in, however, twice rallying from a mini-break down and reeling off four straight points from 3/5 to eventually clinch the set.

Even though Alcaraz’s 21 winners were coupled with 19 unforced errors in the opener, he maintained his bold aggression throughout the second set. The big-hitting Spaniard earned another healthy lead, but this time he contained his unforced errors and raced through the finish to improve to 5-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with De Minaur.

“It was a really difficult match,” said Alcaraz. “On this surface, Alex makes the most of the speed of the ball, he’s super fast and really difficult on return. I’m just really happy to get through this really difficult challenge, and happy with how I’m playing [going into] the next matches.”

{{player.PlayerFirstName}} {{player.PlayerLastName}}

{{player.PlayerCountryCode}}

{{player.PlayerLastName}}

{{player.PartnerLastName}}

{{player.Record}}

Vs
wins

{{opponent.Record}}

Show H2H Detail

{{opponent.PlayerFirstName}} {{opponent.PlayerLastName}}

{{opponent.PlayerCountryCode}}

{{ opponent.PlayerLastName }}

{{opponent.PartnerLastName}}

• {{player.Ranking}} Rank {{opponent.Ranking}}
• {{player.Age ? player.Age : '-'}} Age {{opponent.Age ? opponent.Age : '-'}}

With his one-hour, 40-minute victory, Alcaraz also strengthened his push to claim ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours for the first time since 2022. He now needs 250 more points in Turin to secure the honour over rival Jannik Sinner, with each round-robin win worth 200 points.

Alcaraz will next seek a win on Tuesday, when he faces either Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti in the Jimmy Connors Group. He owns a Tour-leading 68 wins and eight trophies in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

De Minaur said that he was disappointed not to capitalise on his chances in the first-set tie-break after working so hard to claw back into the set, but added that he feels he is getting closer to beating the six-time Grand Slam champion.

“When I look at it, I don't just look at this match, I look at the collection of matches we played. I do feel like I'm quite close to a breakthrough.

“In terms of today, I think he brought out some of the highest level that he has played against me… That backhand line, he broke me a couple times just hitting plain winners. When he's playing in that kind of mood, it's pretty tough to hang on… he's got a lot of weapons and can hit winners from anywhere on the court.

“I look at that first set, I look at it like I had it in my hands. If I would have won that set, I don't think he plays that level in the second set. We'll move on and get ready for the next one.”