Alcaraz wins his first ATP Finals match for the first time and gains confidence against De Minaur
Carlos Alcaraz dominated Alex De Minaur in his opening match at the ATP Finals (7-6, 6-2). It was the first time he has started his campaign with a victory.
Carlos Alcaraz, ATP Finals 2025 | © Action Plus / PsNewz
Carlos Alcaraz has completed one-third of the journey he must travel at the ATP Finals in Turin to reclaim the world No. 1 spot. By defeating Alex de Minaur 7-6, 6-2, the Spaniard not only secured his first win at the prestigious “Nitto” event but did so after three previous attempts had seen him fall short.
In 2023, he was beaten by Zverev before reaching the semifinals, and in 2024, he lost to Ruud, which preceded a group-stage exit.
None of that happened this time. Just ten days after a shocking off-day at the Rolex Paris Masters against Cameron Norrie, the French Open and US Open champion put to rest any notion of being cursed indoors and regained confidence moving forward.
Alcaraz behaved like a champion
Reflecting on his performance, Alcaraz said on court, “Over the past three years, I haven’t managed to maintain the same level of form and motivation late in the season. I’m happy with how I’ve handled things this year, which allows me to come here determined to give my all to win the title.”
Did Alcaraz play his best tennis to earn the win? Absolutely not, apart from some sequences in the second set. Was that the focus? Definitely not. What Alcaraz can take pride in after this inaugural match of the 2025 ATP Finals is that he fought like a champion to escape a tough first set.
At 4-4, 30-30 on his serve, De Minaur came close to sowing doubt in the Spaniard’s mind, who had an early 4-1 lead but almost lost it. A blend of flair—a finely executed serve-and-volley—and a stroke of luck—a lucky net cord—helped him avoid being broken at the worst possible moment.
De Minaur’s second serve
Then, at 5-4, with De Minaur serving in the tiebreak, Alcaraz rattled off three commanding points, including a smashing winner after an intense net rally and an ace, to clinch the set at his first opportunity, punctuating it with a fiery roar.
De Minaur seemed unable to recover from losing the tight opener. The second set began strangely, with two breaks exchanged early on. Meanwhile, Alcaraz pulled away, balancing confidence with some relaxation, while De Minaur struggled to process the close first set (43 points to 42) in which he never managed to summon the decisive push.
Alcaraz : “Really tough match”
Statistics show the critical difference between the two was return effectiveness on second serves: 59% for Alcaraz compared to 43% for De Minaur. The pivotal first-set tiebreak turned on these moments: at 5-5, De Minaur was caught off guard by a deep return from Alcaraz that forced an error. On the next point, Alcaraz delivered a solid second serve to maintain control of the rally and close out the set.
“It was a really tough match,” Alcaraz said post-match. “Alex is really excellent on this surface. He uses the speed of the court and ball perfectly, cuts the trajectories early, and returns excellently even when serves hit 200 or 205 km/h. I’m very happy with how I played.”
This win marks a positive start to Alcaraz’s campaign at the ATP Finals as he pushes to secure the season-ending No. 1 ranking once again.
