In the world of men’s tennis across the past couple of seasons, two players have towered above all the rest. They have collected the last eight Grand Slam championships between them, dominated the game with immense pride and professionalism, played spectacularly on every surface, and left everyone else in the uppermost echelons of the sport far behind them. They have developed a riveting rivalry that is still young but could one day be compared to the historic duels fought out so ferociously by Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
In fact, there was an air of inevitability all week long in Turin at the Nitto ATP Finals that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz would make certain to underline their supremacy once more as eight elite players assembled in Italy for arguably the fifth biggest tournament in the game. Needless to say, they did just that to the delight of many observers by colliding so fittingly in the final round indoors on quick hard courts. When Sinner prevailed over the Spaniard 7-6 (4), 7-5 in their crackling Sunday evening clash, it was the ideal way for the men to wrap up their 2025 campaign.
Moreover, it was the right ending to the year for Sinner. He had a multitude of highs over the course of the season, defending his title “Down Under” at the Australian Open and winning Wimbledon for the first time, taking titles in Beijing, Vienna and Paris in the autumn, winning six tournaments in total. He was a pillar of consistency. But, at the opposite end of the spectrum, Sinner suffered significantly. He served a three month suspension in the winter and spring that kept him out of four Masters 1000 events. Not long after, in only his second tournament back, he found himself standing on the threshold of a monumental triumph at Roland Garros.
Facing Alcaraz in an epic confrontation that was surely the match of the year, Sinner swept 15 of 16 points when leading two sets to one to reach triple match point when leading 5-3 in the fourth set. Somehow, the defending champion turned the tables on the Italian to win magnificently in a fifth set tie-break, leaving Sinner in a state of despondency.
Nonetheless, Sinner bounced back from that devastating and improbable defeat to stop Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, ending a five match losing streak against his formidable rival. And yet, Alcaraz immediately focussed with laser-like vision on what it would take to retaliate for his loss on the London lawns, spending two weeks prior to the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati practicing with Sinner uppermost in his mind. He was leading 5-0 in the first set of the Cincinnati final when a debilitated Sinner had to retire with an illness. And then, a few weeks later, Alcaraz reaffirmed his greatness unequivocally at the U.S. Open with a four set, final round victory over Sinner for his second triumph on the hard courts in New York, and his sixth career major.
By virtue of his success on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Spaniard was riding high and filled with conviction. That was his seventh victory in his last eight appointments against his foremost rival. Sinner had been strikingly close to winning a lot of those matches, but Alcaraz was almost always the better man on the biggest points. But at the U.S. Open, despite taking a set, Sinner was decidedly outclassed, and he spoke afterwards about how he needed to reinvent himself in certain respects, to be less predictable, to add elements to his game. He spoke poignantly about his plight.
Over the course of the fall, he did not play Alcaraz again in an official match, won those three titles and lost only once—falling against Tallon Griekspoor in Shanghai when he was crippled by cramps. Meanwhile, he zoned in on altering his toss on the serve. The change he made was highly successful. All through his three round robin matches in Turin and on through his semifinal, Sinner faced 12 break points but connected with first serves on ten of them and was not broken once. Sinner— the clear leader in the Bjorn Borg Group— cast aside Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 6-1, handled Sascha Zverev 6-4, 6-3 and accounted for Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (3). He then raised his record to 13-0 over Alex De Minaur with a hard fought 7-5, 6-2 semifinal triumph.
Alcaraz, meanwhile, was enjoying his finest run in Turin. Two years ago, he made it to the semifinals but was taken apart 6-3, 6-2 by Novak Djokovic, who won the tournament for a record seventh time the following day over Sinner. Last year, Alcaraz did not make it out of the round robin competition. He had lost recently in Paris to Cameron Norrie on one of those days when he barely resembled himself, but the 22-year-old is a remarkably mature fellow who recovers resiliently from setbacks and remembers what made him who he is.
In Turin, Alcaraz opened his campaign in the Jimmy Connors Group with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over De Minaur, rallying from 3-5 down in the tie-break to take control of the contest. Facing Taylor Fritz in his second match, Alcaraz upended the American who was a finalist a year ago in Turin. The Spaniard battled back gamely to oust Fritz 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-3. He wrapped up his round robin play by eclipsing the Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-1. Alcaraz seemed to be improving match by match as he moved through the tournament, and that feeling was reinforced by the stirring display he put on to oust Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals. He made only two unforced errors in the first set, never lost his serve in the match and sprinkled the court with one dazzling winner after another in a free-wheeling and inspiring performance.
Many learned observers who witnessed Alcaraz in the semifinals considered revising their forecasts for the final. All tournament long, the vast majority of experts were picking Sinner to topple his great rival. The Italian has not lost indoors since Djokovic beat him in the 2023 final. Sinner had won 30 matches in a row indoors before colliding with Alcaraz. He did not drop a set in taking the Turin title a year ago and he marched past his adversaries commandingly this time around as well, refusing again to concede a set.
But Alcaraz essentially had nothing to lose. He sealed the year-end No. 1 ranking by winning his third round robin match over Musetti, and that was his chief mission in Turin. Moreover, Alcaraz had won four of his five meetings in 2025 against Sinner, including two of their three showdowns in Grand Slam tournament finals. For him, Turin was like icing on the cake. He had won eight tournaments in 2025 and 70 of 78 matches prior to his skirmish with Sinner in his most consistent season yet. He wanted to win Turin to be sure, but he did not need to win it.
Not so for Sinner. Alcaraz has been in his head an awful lot this past eighteen months. He was playing at home in an indoor setting where he is almost unbeatable. But he had a massive burden heading into this final with Alcaraz. If Sinner lost, he was surely going to be carrying on a running conversation with himself about his inability to stop this one great man from taking glittering prizes away from him. The doubts would have been lingering in his mind for some time to come, and Sinner would have been hard pressed to explain it all to himself. Irrefutably, he had a lot to lose even if there was still so much to gain. Sinner was playing for his fans in his best setting where so many believed he simply could not fail.
Make no mistake about it: Sinner needed to win this match, and there would be no justifiable excuses if he did not live up to everyone else’s expectations— and his own. More importantly, he seemed to feel that he owed it to himself to find a way to get the job done this time around and close the year out on his own terms with a singularly meaningful and richly rewarding victory.
That is precisely what happened, but not before he was put through another stern test on the battlefield by the sport’s premier shotmaker and artist. It took enormous discipline and determination for Sinner to get himself across the finish line, but ultimately he was a very worthy winner and he dealt with the pressure surrounding him commendably.
In fact, Sinner has seldom dealt with daunting circumstances in a contest with Alcaraz as ably as he did this time around. That is not to say he did not experience some moments of anxiety when he got in his own way and perhaps almost tried too hard. But each and every time that happened, Sinner refused to let it last, and simply got on with the task at hand.
The battle commenced with both players performing admirably. Alcaraz lost only one point in two service games on his way to a 2-1 lead and Sinner took his opening service game at love. But the match was halted for more than eleven minutes when a fan in the stands needed medical attention. Sinner was serving then at 1-2, deuce. He had just double faulted before the delay. But when play resumed he gathered himself with assurance, putting away a forehand volley and serving an ace down the T for 2-2.
Sinner pushed Alcaraz to deuce in the fifth game, but the Spaniard was unfazed, lacing a backhand down the line exquisitely for a winner before Sinner erred off the forehand. Alcaraz had a 3-2 lead, but some big hitting from Sinner helped him hold for 3-3 at 15. Both men were producing top of the line tennis. Alcaraz played terrifically to hold at 15 for 4-3, closing out the game with an impeccable serve-and-volley combination. Sinner replied in kind to reach 4-4, making a delayed approach at 40-15 and then moving in for the decisive swing volley winner.
The tennis was sparkling on both sides of the net. Alcaraz, however, hurt his right hamstring while holding for 5-4, taking the last two points with consecutive forehand winners from 30-30 despite knowing he had done something to his leg. The trainer treated the Spaniard at the changeover, and Alcaraz played on without complaint. At 4-5, Sinner held at 30 on his third game point with an ace but Alcaraz surged to 6-5 at the cost of only one point, opening that eleventh game with an ace and closing it with another sizzling forehand winner.
Now the showdown reached a critical stage, a moment of truth if you will. Serving at 5-6, 30-30, Sinner released an ace but Alcaraz was ceding no ground. His deep return set up a trademark forehand drop winner. Now locked at deuce, Alcaraz played perhaps his most inventive point of the match. It started with a stunningly deep forehand return off a first serve that Sinner could only flick back with little on his shot. Alcaraz drove a backhand crosscourt approach and played a perfect finesse backhand volley to draw Sinner in. Then he picked off Sinner’s response and punched a forehand volley winner down the line past the Italian.
It was set point for the Spaniard. Sinner saved it boldly with a gutsy 117 MPH second serve into the body of Alcaraz on the backhand side. Alcaraz could not keep that return in play. Sinner followed with a potent first serve setting up a thundering forehand winner and then unleashed a service winner out wide. It was 6-6.
On to the tie-break they went. Sinner commenced that sequence with a surprising backhand netted error, won the next two points, but then made another shocking mistake. Alcaraz went to the drop shot but Sinner was there in plenty of time to go crosscourt for the winner off the backhand. With the court open, he netted it. But then Alcaraz missed a backhand down the line going behind Sinner, missing it narrowly wide.
Sinner advanced to 4-2 as Alcaraz drove a two-hander wide in a typically fast and furious exchange, but Sinner then sent a forehand drop shot down the line that landed wide. Alcaraz was serving at 3-4 when he played a half-volley forehand drop shot approach. Sinner read it early, ran it down, and lobbed deftly over Alcaraz. The Spaniard put up a short lob and Sinner easily put away the overhead for 5-3. After Alcaraz took the next point, Sinner served at 5-4. The next point was exhilarating as Alcaraz came in and Sinner sent a low backhand pass crosscourt. Alcaraz could not get enough on the backhand volley down the line and a poised Sinner easily lofted a topspin lob crosscourt for an outright winner. At 6-4 he sealed the set with a service winner out wide that was unmanageable for Alcaraz.
Sinner had rallied valiantly from set point down at 5-6 to win a tense tie-break, but his first serve rhythm was starting to disappear and his second serve harmed him as the second set started. In his 47th service game of the tournament, he was finally broken for the one and only time. Consecutive double faults long from 15-15 were self inflicted wounds. Alcaraz broke at 15 on a slightly miss-hit Sinner forehand wide.
Now playing with a wrap on his upper leg, Alcaraz was still moving well. He swiftly got to 2-0 and reached 3-1 with a second serve ace down the T at 40-15. Still struggling with his first serve reliability— Sinner finished the set at 47%— the Italian managed to hold at 15 for 2-3 and then was the beneficiary of some very good fortune in the sixth game. At 30-40, Alcaraz was break point down but sent an excellent first serve into the body. Sinner somehow fended it off but his return was a complete miss hit, an accidental lob. It somehow landed deep in the court and put Alcaraz into an awkward position. Sinner would win that point with a forehand crosscourt drop shot winner for the break back.
Serving at 3-3, however, Sinner was in another bind at 30-40. Alcaraz had him in trouble but missed a forehand approach shot long. Sinner then prevailed in the longest rally of the match, winning a 25 stroke exchange before holding his hand to his ear to implore the crowd to cheer more vociferously. Alcaraz then laced a 99 MPH forehand winner down the line to get back to deuce, but a service winner from Sinner and an errant backhand down the line wide from the Spaniard enabled Sinner to collect a third game in a row for 4-3.
Both players held at love in the next two games to make it 5-4 for Sinner. Serving to stay in the match, Alcaraz did not blink, holding at 15 for 5-5 with a picture-perfect forehand down the line winner. But Sinner was surging now. At 5-5, he held at 15 with another pattern play, keeping a backhand pass low crosscourt to set up a sharply angled forehand crosscourt passing shot winner.
To 6-5 went Sinner, and now the Spaniard was serving for the second time to keep himself alive. He went to 40-30, garnering a game point to reach another tie-break, but Sinner wasn’t having it. He handled a kicking second serve beautifully with a backhand return winner down the line for deuce, and travelled to match point with a low backhand pass forcing a backhand volley mistake from Alcaraz. Sinner now stayed patiently in a neutral rally with the Spaniard until, on the 15th stroke, Alcaraz pulled a backhand crosscourt wide to conclude the contest.
For Sinner, upending Alcaraz in a match of this importance mattered as much as winning the title itself. He lifted his career record with his chief rival to 6-10, and, by taking two of his last four duels with the Spaniard after losing the previous five, he now should proceed more confidently into the future. Throw into the mix the fact that the Cincinnati loss must be given an asterisk since the Italian had to forfeit it after five games, and Sinner can feel even better now about where he stands.
The view here is that these two extraordinary individuals will meet even more next season. To play six head to head contests in a season when Sinner was missing for three months is not to be ignored. They could well clash on at least eight occasions in 2026, and perhaps 35 times over the next five seasons. Nadal and Federer faced each other on 40 occasions altogether, with the Spaniard winning 24 times. Federer and Djokovic met 50 times, with the Serbian victorious in 27 of those matches. And Djokovic confronted Nadal in 60 contests, winning the series narrowly 31-29.
It is too early to tell if Sinner and Alcaraz can play successfully deep into their thirties the way the “Big Three” all did, and meet each other 50 to 70 times. But it is not unreasonable to project that these next five years will be a gold mine for both champions. Sinner is 24 and Alcaraz is 22. They could well meet in 10 of the next 12 major finals over the next three years. Sinner now trails Alcaraz in the Grand Slam titles race, six to four. They might well keep seesawing back and forth in that historical chase, and in their rivalry.
The game is fortunate that they have arrived in the forefront of the game in such timely fashion, after Federer and Nadal retired and while Djokovic, the No. 4 player in the world for 2025 after reaching all four semifinals at the majors, is navigating the end of his career. Sinner’s Turin triumph over Alcaraz improves the health of their rivalry and will only lead to a series that could become increasingly appealing for serious sports fans all over the world.
