Jannik Sinner wore the look of a man reborn Sunday as he closed a turbulent season in the most emphatic way possible, sweeping past rival Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to successfully defend his ATP Finals crown.
Backed by a thunderous Turin crowd, the Italian star prevailed 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, sealing a year that already carried historic weight after he became the first Italian to win Wimbledon.
The victory extended his unbeaten run at the season-ending event, where he has not lost a match since falling to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 final.
“It’s been an amazing season,” Sinner said. “Four Grand Slam finals, winning here again, finishing the year with this kind of streak – it’s incredible. But what matters most is that I feel like a better player than I was last year. That’s the real goal. If you work and try to improve every day, the results follow. And this year, that proved true.”
When the final point landed, Sinner dropped to the court in a mix of joy and exhaustion, the culmination of a year that tested him, pushed him and ultimately elevated him to the sport’s highest tier.
The win also capped a season in which the 24-year-old had to bounce back from a three-month ban that cut out a significant portion of his year, even though the World Anti-Doping Agency accepted that he had been accidentally contaminated with the banned substance clostebol in March 2024.
“I was thinking about a lot and at the same time not a lot,” Sinner said. “There was a lot of tension, because if I lost that point we’d go into a tiebreak, and then it becomes a different match.
“But in that moment I was probably more relieved about the end of the season. I had a similar feeling last year, but it was different.
“This year it was a more powerful feeling for a variety of reasons. It was a really emotional moment.”
Sinner’s win was his second over Alcaraz this year and a key response after losing the year-end No. 1 ranking to the Spaniard, who won eight tournaments this season and pushed his Grand Slam tally to six.
Alcaraz was left to regret missed chances in another tight, high-quality match between the sport’s top two players, with his backhand letting him down at pivotal moments.
“Right now I have some points and some shots on my mind,” Alcaraz said. “For example, the backhand volley that I missed. I missed a few backhand volleys, which I’m really disappointed in.
“I’d say that was the key. It was a really important moment, and I didn’t finish the point with the backhand volley. I think that was a really important shot that I didn’t do well today.”
