Alcaraz clinches ATP Year-End number one honours for second time

TURIN(Italy):The Spanish sensation clinched the ATP Year-End world number one honours by defeating Lorenzo Musetti in his ATP Finals group stage match and continued his undefeated run in the season-ending competition.

Not only did Alcaraz move to the semifinals, but he also upstaged Jannik Sinner to secure the year-end top rank honours for the second time in his career.

“It means the world to me, to be honest. The year-end No. 1 is always a goal,” Alcaraz said as quoted by ATP’s official website.

“At the beginning of the year, I saw the number one really, really far away [with] Jannik winning almost every tournament he plays. But from the middle of the season ’til now, I gave myself the goal for the No. 1 because I thought it was there. I had the chance to play great tennis in a lot of tournaments in a row, which put me in a position to be close to Jannik for the number one spot.”

“Then in the last three, four tournaments of the year, I was fighting toe to toe with Jannik for this spot, and then finally I got it. For me, it means everything,” he concluded.

It has been an incredible 2025 for Alcaraz, who, back in 2022, became the youngest since 1973 to end the year as world number one. He is just the second active player with multiple year-end top finishes, joining Serbian icon and rival Novak Djokovic (8).

Alcaraz kickstarted the year with a quarterfinal finish at the Australian Open, the only major he has never conquered. However, after this setback, he has been dominant, securing eight titles in 2025, a tour-leading feat that includes two Grand Slams: the French Open and the US Open.

He has also bagged two ATP Masters 1000 events at Monte-Carlo, Rome and Cincinnati and three ATP 500 tournaments at Rotterdam, Queen’s Club and Tokyo. These eight titles are the most he has won in a season.

After winning his two Grand Slam titles this year, he has become the second-youngest player in the Open Era, after Bjorn Borg, to lift six titles. Borg, like Alcaraz, was also 22 when he reached this milestone.

The most memorable match Alcaraz has had this year came during the French Open final, saving three championship points in the final against Sinner. The title clash was the longest in the tournament’s history, lasting five hours and 29 minutes.

He dropped just one set at the US Open and became the youngest of four men to earn multiple majors on clay, grass, and hard courts, alongside Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Mats Wilander.

Alcaraz has been ultra-consistent this year, reaching the finals of nine successive tournaments from the Monte Carlo Masters back in April to the Japan Open in September. He has also won 17 consecutive ATP Masters 1000 matches from the beginning of the Monte Carlo Open through his title win at the Cincinnati Open. Only Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer, and Pete Sampras have had better win streaks since the introduction of ATP Masters 1000 competitions in 1990.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said: “Ending the season as the No. 1 player in the world is an incredible achievement—one that only 19 players have accomplished in more than 50 years of history. To do it twice by the age of 22 makes it even more special. It speaks not only to Carlos’ exceptional talent but to his relentless drive to improve and his determination to compete against the very best. He should be immensely proud of what he’s achieved, and we look forward to watching him continue to inspire fans around the world.”

Alcaraz has conquered the ‘Jimmy Connors Group’ undefeated and will take on the winner of Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday in the semi-finals. Alcaraz will be aiming for his first ATP Finals title. (ANI)