Sinner gains sweet revenge on Alcaraz with ATP Finals title

On his favourite surface and before a rowdy home crowd, Jannik Sinner closed out his immense season with 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.

- Tumaini Carayol

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 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 the 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.