Nitto ATP Finals
\n Alcaraz hits his range vs. De Minaur, kicks off Nitto ATP Finals bid<\/p>\n
Spaniard improves to 1-0 in Jimmy Connors Group<\/p>\n
November 09, 2025<\/p>\n
Corinne Dubreuil\/ATP Tour<\/p>\n
Carlos Alcaraz improves to 5-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Alex de Minaur.
\n By Jerome Coombe<\/p>\n
After a career-best season, Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> began his Nitto ATP Finals<\/a> campaign in fitting fashion \u2014 with a long-awaited opening victory.<\/p>\n The top seed on Sunday powered past Alex de Minaur<\/a> 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<\/a> (2023) and Casper Ruud<\/a> (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.<\/p>\n First Match Under Wraps! \ud83d\udc4c@carlosalcaraz<\/a> kick-starts his 2025 #NittoATPFinals<\/a> campaign with a straight sets win over De Minaur pic.twitter.com\/6qqfQMniGY<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ATP Tour (@atptour) November 9, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cThis tournament is one of the best tournaments we have on Tour, without a doubt,\u201d Alcaraz said. \u201cWe\u2019re playing against the best players in the world, which shows how difficult and important it is. I\u2019ve 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\u2019m proud about [as] I\u2019m doing the right things to give myself a shot to try and win this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Even though Alcaraz\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a really difficult match,\u201d said Alcaraz. \u201cOn this surface, Alex makes the most of the speed of the ball, he\u2019s super fast and really difficult on return. I\u2019m just really happy to get through this really difficult challenge, and happy with how I\u2019m playing [going into] the next matches.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, with each round-robin win worth 200 points.<\/p>\n Alcaraz will next seek a win on Tuesday, when he faces either Taylor Fritz<\/a> or Lorenzo Musetti<\/a> in the Jimmy Connors<\/a> Group. He owns a Tour-leading 68 wins and eight trophies in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win\/Loss Index.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n