Jannik Sinner beats Carlos Alcaraz in ATP Finals in latest Sincaraz rivalry

The final instalment of the "Sincaraz" rivalry for 2025 has gone the way of Jannik Sinner.

The second-ranked Sinner beat the top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 for the ATP Finals trophy on Sunday in the sixth meeting this year between the two players who are dominating men's tennis.

Sinner defended the title before his home Italian fans for only his second victory over Alcaraz this year after also beating the Spaniard in the Wimbledon final.

"It was an incredible season," Sinner said. "To finish it this way, before my Italian fans, is very special for me."

Alcaraz had already secured the year-ending number one ranking and was contesting his first final at the event for the year's top eight players.

Alcaraz still leads his career meetings with Sinner 10-6.

Sinner and Alcaraz have met in the past three grand slam finals. Alcaraz beat Sinner in a fifth-set tiebreaker to win the French Open; Sinner gained a measure of revenge at Wimbledon; then Alcaraz again came out on top at the US Open.

They also clashed this year in the Italian Open final (won by Alcaraz) and the Cincinnati Open final (won by Alcaraz when Sinner retired due to illness).

Sinner also won the Australian Open — beating Alexander Zverev in the final — so he and Alcaraz each won two majors this year.

In all, Alcaraz has won six majors and Sinner has won four.

Saint Sinner

Already early in the first set, the pro-Sinner crowd chanted its customary "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole; Sin-ner, Sin-ner."

One fan even held up an image of Sinner depicted as a saint.

Sinner saved a set point at 5-6 in the tight first set with a big second serve that Alcaraz could not return. Then the Italian took control of the tie breaker by running down a drop shot and responding with a lob that led to an overhead put away.

"I'm extremely happy with how I handled the situation," Sinner said of saving the set point.

Alcaraz was not quite at his best and had his right thigh treated by a trainer on two occasions — getting it wrapped after the first set.

Yet he still broke Sinner's serve in the opening game of the second set, but Sinner then evened it at 3-3.

Sinner then got the crowd going again in the next game when he won a long rally and held his finger to his ear — signalling for more noise inside the Inalpi Arena.

Sinner broke Alcaraz again to close it out when the Spaniard missed a backhand wide — then fell down to the court on his back in relief.

It was Sinner's 10th straight win at the finals, stretching back to his loss to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 final. What's more is that Sinner has not lost a set in that stretch.

Sinner also extended his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 31 matches.

In the doubles final, Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten beat Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 7-5, 6-3.

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