Carlos Alcaraz didn't need to win the ATP Finals in 2025, but he might very much want to. The six-time Grand Slam winner at only 22 years old is trending toward a historical career, perhaps ending with the most majors won ever.
But he has never won the ATP Finals, and didn't finish at No. 1 at the end of 2024. Instead, Jannik Sinner did. In 2025, though, Alcaraz will be atop the ATP rankings. All he needed to do during the ATP Finals was when each of his round-robin matches at the event. Mission accomplished.
Alcaraz played a feisty Lorenzo Musetti, who was playing with the crowd firmly behind him as the tournament is held in Turin, Italy, and Musetti is from Italy, but the versatility and ability to simply play at a higher level than his opponents for a longer period of time make Alcaraz a tough out in any situation. Musetti did his best, but that is nowhere near the Spaniard's best.
Carlos Alcaraz defeats Lorenzo Musetti at ATP Finals to take year-end No. 1 ranking
The Italian hung around in the first set, helped by Alcaraz's unforced errors. But like all great players, Alcaraz plays better in the bigger moments. When he needed to win a point, he did. Musetti had no real answer, as he dropped the set 4-6.
The second set was far more one-sided. The Spaniard got an early break, and when he smells proverbial blood in a match that usually is terrible for whoever he is playing. Alcaraz got another break and rushed to a 5-1 lead. The match was no longer in question, but simply how fast Carlos Alcaraz would end it.
He finished off set two 6-1, claimed his year-end ranking, and moved into the semifinals. The assumption is that he will face Jannik Sinner in the final simply because tennis fans have gotten used to seeing the two players meet in the last match of any event they enter. Alcaraz and Sinner are the best players on the ATP tour, and third place isn't close.
Will Alcaraz be satisfied with simply getting to be year-end No. 1, though? He has never won the ATP Finals, so that might drive him forward. At his best, he would defeat anyone, even Sinner.